From what I read yesterday Specialized only has a Trademark on Roubaix in Canada. Fuji holds the Trademark in the USA.
No doubt the owner of the shop should have done more diligence regarding the name of his shop, but I bet anything he was not naming his shop after a bike frame and more likely he named it after the famed race classic. When most of us hear Roubaix there comes a mental list of association and I would imagine most of us cycling enthusiast think of the classic race and location as the top pick and then we start grouping products based on the name.
Even though there is a legal right to protect the name of Roubaix, I still struggle with the idea that his shop is not called Roubaix. It is Café Roubaix and that is not the same and I doubt it distracts anyone from the Specialized brand. Before all of this blew up I bet 99% of us didn't even know Café Roubaix even existed at all.
A Canadian Trademark attorney spoke up on a different forum and stated that he believes the shop owner could win this case, but more than likely his legal fees to fight Specialized would be over $150,000 and the owner stated that he simply does not have the money to go to court. And there is the risk that he may lose the case. The trademark attorney stated that there are probably plenty of attorneys that would take this case pro bono just to fight a high profile company and add to their resume. He said what could help him win is the overwhelming sympathy he is getting from a massive population and that does sway the judges at times.
I watched the Facebook pages for Specialized and Specialized Canada yesterday and there was an amazing amount of people posting against Specialized and whether Specialized totally in the right for the aggressive legal action they should not be surprised that this type of action comes at a public relation cost.
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Motown, I don't disagree with your thoughts and the Roubaix frame is very nice and I certainly would not give it up or not get the new frame. Most of the people posting on Facebook stating that they are selling their Specialized bikes because of this and I bet anything that most will not. I have top of the line Specialized shoes and I am not about to throw them in the garbage can. I also have their gloves, leg and arm warmers and some other things. But I am very disappointed that they showed their true colors as a cold hearted corporate entity to a small guy that has a shop name Café Roubaix and that name has absolutely no harm to the corporate giant no more than the pair of Giordana Roubaix tights that I own has an impact on their profit margin.
