Home |
Search |
Today's Posts |
#1
|
|||
|
|||
Goliath 1, David zip, and shame on Carver Boat Co. :-(
We have a broker up in Anacortes, WA that has been around almost 20 years.
Nice bunch of low-key folks who sell primarily sailboats ( hey, everybody has a cross to bear). The firm has always been known as Voyager Yachts, and Fred West is the owner. Last weekend at the Anacortes Floating Boat Show, I noticed that Voyager Yachts had changed its name to West Yachts. Seemed like an odd move after building up a decent reputation for a couple of decades, so I asked one of the brokers about the name change. A tale of ridiculous corporate bullying ensued..... Seems that Carver Yacht Company (one of the largest mass-pro powerboat builders) has offered a Carver "Voyager" since about 1977, and continues to offer a version of the vessel today. Carver got a bug up its butt to threaten Voyager Yachts with a suit for trademark violation. Odds are probably good that Voyager Yachts would win in court. They have used the name for almost 20 years, "voyager" is a common nautical term, and Carver's "Voyager" is a model designation, not the corporate tradename. Voyager Yachts is (primarily) a sailboat brokerage, and would never have made any attempt to mislead the public into a belief that Voyager Yachts was a Carver powerboat dealer. The nearest Carver dealer is in Seattle, about 65 miles away. Looks like a pretty strong position, at least to me. I'd side with the broker if I was on a jury. Only problem, Voyager Yachts would have been required to defend its position in court. Carver could fly out a planeload of staff attorneys who would otherwise be sitting around on payroll with nothing to do. Even if the court had decided in favor of Voyager Yachts, the local broker would have had to absorb a fortune in legal fees. As it is, the local broker is absorbing the expense of changing all his signs, phone listings, business cards, stationary, etc etc etc to a new name. I asked one of his salespeople, "Did anybody ever come in expecting you to be representing Carver Voyager boats?" "Nope. Not even once." Score one for Goliath, zip for David on this round. I'm willing to bet that if Fred West ever decides to represent a line of new powerboats, it's extremely unlikely to be Carver. Is business so slow for Carver up this way that they even have time to worry about a non consequential similarity in trade names? You'd sue Brunswick or Genmar for calling a boat line "Voyager", but nobody other than a ridiculous bully is going to hassle a small businessman in Anacortes, WA. |