LOST JEEPS
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Unscrupulous Vendor
http://www.lostjeeps.com/forum/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=2974		 Page 1 of 1
Author:  ElCoyote92 [ Tue Oct 25, 2005 2:06 am ]
Post subject:  Unscrupulous Vendor
Mario here, from Adventure Trailers.
Today I discovered something disturbing: one of our competitors, Tentrax, has put “Adventure Trailers” after their name in order to confuse the public. It appears that they have been doing this in their print ads and website for a few months. They have also added “adventure trailers” to their meta tags so that web searches will erroneously lead people to their site.

I don’t know if you know the history of Tentrax but they bought one of Jim Church’s Backcountry Trailers some years ago and copied it. Jim put up a fight but gave up since he had no patents to protect his invention. Backcountry Trailers has since gone out of business. In the meantime, Tentrax has copied many of our slogans such as “Sport Utility Trailer” “Camp Anywhere” and now our name. The owner Bob Mazziotti is an unscrupulous person as we have now found out who will steal anything that is not bolted down and now he threatens our companys' good name.

We are concerned that people will become confused about who makes Adventure Trailers and that they will be duped. If Tentrax is this unscrupulous with its business practices, we can only wonder how they take care of a customer with a warranty problem or where they would cut corners to save a nickel that would put the 4 wheeler at risk .

Contrary to what you might think, this is not a case of sour grapes on our behalf. For us, this is a matter ethical business practices. We do not steal nor do we lie to our customers or competitors. There is no room for that when the rubber meets the road and you are counting on your equipment to get you through. We have learned that “What goes around, comes around”. AT will continue to do business in an ethical and fair manner. Our competition may steal from us to make little gains but in the end, our quality and integrity will prevail.

Sorry for the rant but we thought you should know what is going on.

See ya on the trail! :D
Author:  skrracing [ Tue Oct 25, 2005 2:31 am ]
Post subject:  Hope this helps
I guess when you sell some over priced fiberglass bucket...you have to resort to all kinds of things like this. I have seen their trailers and to say it is an off road trailer...well that is really pushings it if you ask me.

Yea they look cute but maybe behind a PT Curiser or something like that. Out on the trail...You have to go with a real Adventure Trailer...There just aint no faking it there. later...Clint
Author:  Liberator84 [ Tue Oct 25, 2005 2:36 am ]
Post subject: 
It's just sad that people are then gun hoe about money that they will &^%$ some one else.

~JUD 8)
Author:  BlueFreedom [ Tue Oct 25, 2005 7:45 am ]
Post subject:  Attention the real "Adventure Trailers"...
You've just been pretty much endorsed by LOST (via Skrracing/Clint).
Author:  Heather [ Thu Oct 27, 2005 2:44 pm ]
Post subject: 
I read the headline on the home page of Tentrax site and it's blatantly scamming your "Adventure Trailers" and "Horizon" names. I hate companies like that! They need to be more creative and come up with catch lines/names of their own! But then, they did copy their trailer design from Backcountry Trailers - not pioneering a design themselves -- I personally knew Jim Church, the original owner of Back Country Trailers, and he would be sickened by Tentrax's obvious lack of scruples.

Shame on Tentrax!
Author:  Edvalencia [ Thu Oct 27, 2005 4:56 pm ]
Post subject: 
Can't you take them to court?
I hate people who sue on a whim, but I think you would be be perfectly justified, as it could damage your reputation.

Ed
Author:  btolle [ Thu Oct 27, 2005 5:04 pm ]
Post subject: 
I would investigate the trademark laws. Once you can show that you have prior use of a name you may be able to stop someone else from using it. A letter from a lawyer pointing out the pertinent sections of the trademark laws might scare them enough to back off particularly since they are using several of your model names.

See http://www.uspto.gov/main/trademarks.htm

"Is registration of my mark required?
No. You can establish rights in a mark based on legitimate use of the mark. However, owning a federal trademark registration on the Principal Register provides several advantages, e.g.,

* constructive notice to the public of the registrant's claim of ownership of the mark;
* a legal presumption of the registrant's ownership of the mark and the registrant's exclusive right to use the mark nationwide on or in connection with the goods and/or services listed in the registration;
* the ability to bring an action concerning the mark in federal court;
* the use of the U.S registration as a basis to obtain registration in foreign countries; and
* the ability to file the U.S. registration with the U.S. Customs Service to prevent importation of infringing foreign goods.

When can I use the trademark symbols TM, SM and ®?

Any time you claim rights in a mark, you may use the "TM" (trademark) or "SM" (service mark) designation to alert the public to your claim, regardless of whether you have filed an application with the USPTO. However, you may use the federal registration symbol "®" only after the USPTO actually registers a mark, and not while an application is pending. Also, you may use the registration symbol with the mark only on or in connection with the goods and/or services listed in the federal trademark registration."

Bill Tolle
05 Rubicon
04 Liberty

If you love offroading and want the trails to stay open please join Blueribbon Coalition.
"Preserving our natural resources FOR the public instead of FROM the public"
http://sharetrails.org/
Author:  LuckeyDuckey [ Thu Oct 27, 2005 6:07 pm ]
Post subject: 
sounds like a "cease and desist" letter is in order to them. about 5 years ago my cousin tried to open an events company under the name of a company that already existed on the east coast. while they weren't competing for business, she got a "cease and desist" anyways and had to choose a new name.

good luck. maybe it's time to employ the "pink fluffy hearts steel trailers" name and see if that guy copies that too!
Author:  ElCoyote92 [ Sun Oct 30, 2005 8:47 pm ]
Post subject: 
Thanks all for your support. We appreciate your advice and we are currently consulting with our attorney. In the meantime we will continue to focus our efforts on our new products and building the best darn trailers around. Quite honestly, now that I've calmed down about the discovery, I am a little bit flattered by the imitation but am also confident that they are not capable of equaling our products or innovation as they have not had an original thought or idea since the inception of their business as mentioned by Heather. As we move forward, they will be forever chasing us. The view is better as lead dog... :lol:
Author:  FreedomKJ [ Mon Oct 31, 2005 12:09 am ]
Post subject: 
ElCoyote92 wrote:
Thanks all for your support. We appreciate your advice and we are currently consulting with our attorney. In the meantime we will continue to focus our efforts on our new products and building the best darn trailers around. Quite honestly, now that I've calmed down about the discovery, I am a little bit flattered by the imitation but am also confident that they are not capable of equaling our products or innovation as they have not had an original thought or idea since the inception of their business as mentioned by Heather. As we move forward, they will be forever chasing us. The view is better as lead dog... :lol:


I dunno, depends on the dog you're following... :wink:

Good luck though! :)
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