Topic: Honda's legal team at it again.

[Duanob]

I bought a pretty cool T Honda logo T-shirt off of ebay. It was dark blue with a yellow honda wing. I received it yesterday. Glad I bought it when I did because this morning I got this in my ebay messages:

"We're writing to let you know that we removed the listing for the following item that you bid on or won:

170540891984 - Honda Motorcycles T-shirt - Classic Logo - New - S-4XL

Most items listed on eBay are legitimate, and there are many things we do to protect our members from buying items that aren't. One thing we do is remove items reported to us as allegedly infringing through the eBay VeRO program.

In this case, we removed the listing because the copyright or trademark owner of this product reported that they believe the item may not be authentic."

First David Spears and now this? Is Honda hurting that bad? Funny when there is a recession the lengths that people will go to to get every last penny they can. Even at their own reputation's expense.

[KeithTurk]

They have a right and an obligation to protect the brand...

( I'm not normally a Big company rights guy.... but I've seen this deal with Hot Rod Magazine quite a bit and frankly it's amazing the crap folks will put a logo on if they aren't checked... )

K

[BobbyR]

They have a right and an obligation to protect the brand...

( I'm not normally a Big company rights guy.... but I've seen this deal with Hot Rod Magazine quite a bit and frankly it's amazing the crap folks will put a logo on if they aren't checked... )

K

+1
I was in a Honda dealer in Sarasota Florida, there were a 10 bikes and the rest of the store was Honda logoed everything. The rest of the store was Honda logo dress up parts along with various "Live to Ride, Ride to Live" chrome covers.
It was more a T Shirt  and jacket shop than a Motorcycle dealer. Can you imagine the markup on $5 shot glass?   

[MCRider]

They have a right and an obligation to protect the brand...

( I'm not normally a Big company rights guy.... but I've seen this deal with Hot Rod Magazine quite a bit and frankly it's amazing the crap folks will put a logo on if they aren't checked... )

K

Yes the "obligation" part is what many misunderstand I think. If you have a trade or service mark, and you obviously don't protect it, you can lose it. That's the law. So Honda and everyone else with millions and billions invested in their brand, must, whether they want to or not, stop people from using the brand without permission. Has nothing to do with whether they need the money or that they want to pick on the little guy.

So the argument becomes "why pick on this one over that one?"  Simply, with big brands there are so many potential offenders, Honda (or their lawyers) just throw some darts and whoever gets hit is who gets the clamps. Of course the blatant violaters get closer scrutiny.

Bottom line the companies must actively protect their brand and the evidence of this activity is to throw lawsuits at offenders.

I doubt the general public holds this against their reputation.

[dave500]

the clothing industry is rife with copies,i recall a few years ago i think in switzerland a rolex executive noticed a man with a rolex watch and commented how good they are,the watch owner told him it was a fake and the owner got prosecuted for knowingly buying a fake, anyone else hear this?

[Duke McDukiedook]

Lawyers... 

[Duanob]

I have a black market T-shirt! Awesome! I'll wear it proudly


Yeah, starbuck's here in Seattle goes after small mom n pop coffee shops if their name or logo even remotely resemble their's. A lot of customers get put off by the big corporations sueing little guys who can barely keep their doors open. Big boys just need to pick their battles with a little more class is all.

[Skunk Stripe]

Well MC, I have a bit of a different opinion. Sure, ok they need to protect their brand but if honda will not make the parts, then they should not sue when someone does. If anything, continued parts availability, even when not from honda directly, will only serve to increase their rep. think of how many less cb750s would be on the road if not for aftermarket manufacturers that stepped up on parts that honda discontinued.

[Duanob]

Well MC, I have a bit of a different opinion. Sure, ok they need to protect their brand but if honda will not make the parts, then they should not sue when someone does. If anything, continued parts availability, even when not from honda directly, will only serve to increase their rep. think of how many less cb750s would be on the road if not for aftermarket manufacturers that stepped up on parts that honda discontinued.

Unfortunately in the big corperate world they don't care about the old classics on the road. They answer to a board of directors that if they had their way they, would rather scrap all those old bikes and we would be forced to buy brand new ones. That's where they make their money. They hate consumers like us, finding old scrap iron, buying used parts, making it useable again. But I think our way is the environmentally responsible way! Everytime I buy a used part and ride my old bike I am helping to save our planet. 

[MCRider]

Well MC, I have a bit of a different opinion. Sure, ok they need to protect their brand but if honda will not make the parts, then they should not sue when someone does. If anything, continued parts availability, even when not from honda directly, will only serve to increase their rep. think of how many less cb750s would be on the road if not for aftermarket manufacturers that stepped up on parts that honda discontinued.

I wish I could agree. But "we" a group wanting to linger in the nostalgic past, represent a thorny thorn in Honda's side. They, and all manufacturers, wish wholeheartedly that all those old bikes would rust to dust, and they do not support anyone who stands in the path of rapid obsolescence, the sooner the better, and that we would push our demand into the more recent past, or to a different hobby altogether. Only the occaasional and rare interest of a few tenured executives keep this from happening.

In other words, the less SOHC CB750s on the road the better. Leave them to pictures in the books and a few in the museums.    sad but true.

[Skunk Stripe]

That is completely true and yet honda likes to tout their reliability and longevity. You can't really do that and have your cars or whatever fall apart in 10 years. Doing that crap would have technically caused gm to go belly up if not for being bailed out or at least severely hurt them.

[seanbarney41]

Except for one problem, how many 74 Chevy Novas are still on the road?  When was the last time you even saw a Honda car made before 1984.

[754]

 Honda is not stopping you from building parts, they are stopping you from building ones that have the word honda on them..

[Duke McDukiedook]

So how the hell are you supposed to market and sell said parts if they can't mention Honda?!?!?

Call them Wonda parts?

[gmonkey]

"rhymes with Fonda"  I think they just go after people that try to pass their own stuff off as authentic Honda merchandise.  They don't have a problem if you market valve covers that you claim will work with a honda cb750.  They have a problem if you make money off their brand like grinding the wing logo into said valve cover or stamping it onto a cheap t-shirt and selling it for $15.  That's just my understanding but I'm not a lawyer.

Makers of model kits of WW2 german armor aren't allowed to put the word "continental" on the tank's wheels.  They put "CONTINENTAU" on there instead.  You buy the kit, chop off a chunk of that nice blocky U and viola.

[Skunk Stripe]

Except for one problem, how many 74 Chevy Novas are still on the road?  When was the last time you even saw a Honda car made before 1984.

Well not many novas but then how many were ever left stock and not molested? Around here, not many. So they have been cut up so much that there is nothing left! As for old hondas, I still see some old cars putting around from the 80s. However, most people end up junking them and getting something newer long before their car hits 20 years old.

[MCRider]

Except for one problem, how many 74 Chevy Novas are still on the road?  When was the last time you even saw a Honda car made before 1984.

Well not many novas but then how many were ever left stock and not molested? Around here, not many. So they have been cut up so much that there is nothing left! As for old hondas, I still see some old cars putting around from the 80s. However, most people end up junking them and getting something newer long before their car hits 20 years old.

Sure the pre-80s Hondas were disposable cars. Never conceive of anyone keeping one forever. My 1985 Civic lasted me very well to 1994 when a deer totalled it. Would still be going otherwise.

[Skunk Stripe]

Exactly, most people get rid of them long before the car itself is dead. I am guessing they end up in the hands of teenage drivers who then destroy them!

[Duanob]

"rhymes with Fonda"  I think they just go after people that try to pass their own stuff off as authentic Honda merchandise.  They don't have a problem if you market valve covers that you claim will work with a honda cb750.  They have a problem if you make money off their brand like grinding the wing logo into said valve cover or stamping it onto a cheap t-shirt and selling it for $15.

Yes but how much did Honda pay for that logo? Not much I would believe. Nike paid $35 to the artist that created their logo and Microsoft paid $125. So what goes around comes around (as long as you don't get caught) Like I said I will proudly wear my new T-shirt. Honda got their money everytime someone buys a motorcycle or parts. T-shirts? puhleeez.

[754]

 What does what they paid for the logo design , have to do with anything..
 Its about ownership and they own it. The value of it is not in what they paid, but what the name has become..

 Are  you saying if you owned a trademark, you would give free reign for others to do what they want with it.. I sorta doubt that..