Consider Not Buying from Backcountry.com

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12ersRule
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Re: Consider Not Buying from Backcountry.com

Post by 12ersRule »

FCSquid wrote: Fri Nov 01, 2019 12:57 pm Don Henley and Glen Frey were/are first-class A-holes. Also like the time when the boys from Metallica sued some other metal band for using that F-E chromatic pull-down that's signature to Metallica's sound. They didn't sue over stealing a song melody or anything, they quite literally sued over a two-chord guitar riff.
I take it you aren't taking out another mortgage to see them do Hotel California live this spring?

Boo on Metallica for doing that.

Killing Joke had a great reason to sue Nirvana for this......but never did. They probably would've won too.






Also, I think Spirit has a pretty weak case vs. Led Zeppelin over "Stairway to Heaven". However a billion blues artists could profit off of the ripping off that Zeppelin did on Led Zep I and II.
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ZNixon
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Re: Consider Not Buying from Backcountry.com

Post by ZNixon »

Sadly, I've heard this is their next target..
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Roseb
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Re: Consider Not Buying from Backcountry.com

Post by Roseb »

Have spent enough money with them to have an Account Manager I guess. I'll reach out to them. It won't do anything but perhaps enough of us reaching out will bring up the discussion for them.
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Flips
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Re: Consider Not Buying from Backcountry.com

Post by Flips »

No telling what kind of legal armageddon would break out if all the organizations using Pikes Peak in their name claimed it as theirs only.
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Trotter
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Re: Consider Not Buying from Backcountry.com

Post by Trotter »

FCSquid wrote: Fri Nov 01, 2019 12:57 pm
Also like the time when the boys from Metallica sued some other metal band for using that F-E chromatic pull-down that's signature to Metallica's sound. They didn't sue over stealing a song melody or anything, they quite literally sued over a two-chord guitar riff.
Thats not true at all.
After climbing a great hill, one only finds that there are many more hills to climb. -Nelson Mandela
Whenever I climb I am followed by a dog called Ego. -Nietzsche
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719BR
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Re: Consider Not Buying from Backcountry.com

Post by 719BR »

Trotter wrote: Sat Nov 02, 2019 6:32 am
FCSquid wrote: Fri Nov 01, 2019 12:57 pm
Also like the time when the boys from Metallica sued some other metal band for using that F-E chromatic pull-down that's signature to Metallica's sound. They didn't sue over stealing a song melody or anything, they quite literally sued over a two-chord guitar riff.
Thats not true at all.
don't tap the glass
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Count40
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Re: Consider Not Buying from Backcountry.com

Post by Count40 »

Nice when bureaucracy and litigation hits the hills.

Don't know if anybody in this thread already mentioned it, but, would any of that legal action having anything to do with Backcountryedge.com becoming Enwild.com only recently? Or, perhaps, that PA crowd just wanted to have something more distinct, instead of using such a common term, and then whining about it.

Backcountry should try the same, instead of spending money on lawyers. Or just suck it up.
How hard and expensive it is to change stationery and just forward a web page link from old URL?
Obviously, others did it, and did not go bankrupt.

Sounds like poor top management choices, from day one, with which they got away for a while.
Now, that the market has more competition, seems more like lashing out. Familiar.
Did they notice a drop in sales, and try to find the causes of somebody else's making.

They were anyway never a choice when shopping around. So many other companies and web sites.
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DArcyS
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Re: Consider Not Buying from Backcountry.com

Post by DArcyS »

Chicago Transplant wrote: Fri Nov 01, 2019 9:09 am I agree with Martin, "backcountry" is a generic term. Its like Ohio State trying to trademark "The" (Which it did, and was denied).

I'll continue to support the local shops as much as I can, like Alpine Quest and Ptarmigan Sports in Edwards and Wilderness Sports in Summit for my backcountry needs.
Yes, back country is a generic term, but the issue is whether it's generic with respect to their goods and services. The big battle line in trademark law is whether the mark is descriptive of the goods or services, in which case the mark is afforded no protection, or suggestive of the goods or services, in which case the Patent and Trademark Office is happy to register the mark. Descriptive marks are not afforded protection because other companies must be allowed to use the descriptive term to sell their goods and services. So, does "back country" describe what they are selling, e.g., how does back country describe a hiking boot or ski? Or does back country only suggest something about their goods and services, such as where they are used?

So, I think the law is on Backcountry's side, but that doesn't mean they need to be pond scum. This tactic of consumer pressure is good. There's no need for a mark to sell goods and services if nobody is going to buy from them because they're acting like big jerks.
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Re: Consider Not Buying from Backcountry.com

Post by Scott P »

How does it work with companies that had the word backcountry in their name before backcountry.com existed (Backcountry Magazine, for example)?
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Re: Consider Not Buying from Backcountry.com

Post by BillMiddlebrook »

This sucks. 14ers.com has received thousands of dollars in affiliate/link kickbacks over the years but they clearly aren't playing nice. While I'm not ending the affiliate relationship yet, I have removed the BC links from the site.
"When I go out, I become more alive. I just love skiing. The gravitational pull. When you ski steep terrain... you can almost get a feeling of flying." -Doug Coombs
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Re: Consider Not Buying from Backcountry.com

Post by nunns »

Scott P wrote: Sat Nov 02, 2019 4:26 pm How does it work with companies that had the word backcountry in their name before backcountry.com existed (Backcountry Magazine, for example)?
For that matter, why doesn't Backcountry Magazine sue THEM?
Kind of reminds me of Notre Dame's overzealous enforcement of their name. Notre Dame I understand. Getting ND trademarked is a different story.
And thank goodness that sanity prevailed on Ohio State's attempt to trademark the word THE.

Sean Nunn
"Thy righteousness is like the great mountains." --Psalms 36:6
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Re: Consider Not Buying from Backcountry.com

Post by cottonmountaineering »

nunns wrote: Mon Nov 04, 2019 8:17 am
Scott P wrote: Sat Nov 02, 2019 4:26 pm How does it work with companies that had the word backcountry in their name before backcountry.com existed (Backcountry Magazine, for example)?
For that matter, why doesn't Backcountry Magazine sue THEM?
Kind of reminds me of Notre Dame's overzealous enforcement of their name. Notre Dame I understand. Getting ND trademarked is a different story.
And thank goodness that sanity prevailed on Ohio State's attempt to trademark the word THE.

Sean Nunn
probably lack of funds
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