Brothers and Sisters in Triumph,
Having collected enough Spitfire bits to build one or two...
I'm not sure if the decision was upheld by the higher court, but a few years
ago a federal court ruled that a trademark had to be in use to be defended.
This came up with the revival of the Indian Motocycle(TM). (yes,
MOTOCYCLE)Basically, this trademark was sold from one scam artist to another
for the purpose(non expressed, of course) of taking bogus orders for bikes
that didn't exist and generating "capital" with possible sale of stock. The
court basically ruled that to defend that trademark, the company would have
to actually come up with a motorcycle for sale in marketplace. The company
in question was really just making clothing with the trademark. So, now,
unfortunately, you can buy a funky leather jacket with the Indian Motocycle
logo, but alas, no bike.
This decision really wouldn't apply to Triumph, because Rover/BMW is
certainly in the car business and could (in theory, anyway) re-badge the Z3
to meet the challenge and defend the Triumph trademark in the US market.
Now I'm not sure how this item is related, but it seems the Norton(!) has
sprung up in Plymouth, MN, USA. (Good LORD!) They advertise a "line" of what
appear to be imaginary (or at least "virtual") motorcycles. And they are of
course "accepting advance orders."
All these sorry efforts are hampered by the same thing. Pie in the sky
product planning. Now you could probably go into business with an updated
Commando 850. All the parts are available new. You could have new bikes
available for sale and probably get a federal exemption for some of the
difficult bits. But a 235bhp 60deg(?!) V8? Yeah, right....see:
http://www.nortonmotorcycles.com/ (Norton purists, shield your eyes!)
(I'm aware of the European Norton "single" effort, and I think that's MUCH
more the "real deal" even with it's Rotax engine... but I digress...)
Perhaps I'll wait 'till they (Norton USA) go under and start producing "new"
Commandos in an abandoned factory here in good ol' Trenton, NJ. (Lot's of
real-honest to God skilled labor here too.) My Great Grandfather was a
machinist in Stoke-On-Trent so at least there would be some UK connection.
Until then, please, please let's drop this thread (copyright)as it resembles
what I do for a living and I can't tell work emails from list emails.
Chris Lillja
Marketing Associate (and former subrights/copyright goon)
Princeton University Press
Chris_Lillja@pupress.princeton.edu
Fax: 609-258-6305
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