World Wide Problem Publicity.

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williambegg	World Wide Problem Publicity.	Lead	[-]
Posts: 1421 (10/13/09 04:13:28) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite Ignore User's Posts	Hi All, I never realized what a hassle there is with our sport & how much damage has been done by one Word "ROLLERBLADE" I never realized this till on an oudoor pursuit, I bumped into the reporters Boss & we got talking The Head Editor of our Local small town city newspaper only about a 50,000 population area, recieves threatening letters from the company, if the reporter uses the word Rollerblades, instead of Inlines, if a lesser athlete lived in the city, they would not bother even writing about our sport. The company should have stoped that stupid nonscence years ago, they made there money, now the kill the sport by unsuspecting news paper personal using the word, that they think best to descibe the sport, I wonder how many other newspapers do not even bother writing again, if they recieve the same treatment? Bill
fantasyfreddy		#1	[-]
Posts: 16 (10/14/09 23:19:58) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite Ignore User's Posts	Truly Idiotic: using that word is free publicity!! Bont would be thrilled if people started sayin they were goin Bonting!! I think we should start saying that instead!! Bonts are WAY better!! No comparison!!
unisk8r		#2	[-]
Posts: 24 (10/15/09 09:17:32) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite Ignore User's Posts	May not like it, but Nordica (the parent company to Rollerblade) has an absolute legal right to do that. Also they actually have a duty to defend their trademark (like any registrant), or risk losing rights. Even if it's not a good business decision. That's life in big business.
Ben1		#3	[-]
Posts: 199 (10/15/09 23:19:42) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite Ignore User's Posts	Unfortunately common sense and ethics are often thrown out the window and sentences like "thats life in big business" used to excuse it. No one is disagreeing that R*llerblade (don't wanna get sued for writing the whole word in a defammatory context ) were not within their legal rights, what Bill is saying is that in their overzealous "protection" of their trademark they are doing more harm to our sport than good. Now if I was to produce some skating products and print their name all over it then thats one thing, but to threaten a small local newspaper over the use of what most people see as a generic term for the sport is just stupid and only serves to damage their brand name instead of protecting it....not to mention discouraging already meagre media coverage of skating. Poor form.
andrgin		#4	[-]
Posts: 11 (10/16/09 06:14:16) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite Ignore User's Posts	Having a brand name does not mean that you have the right to threaten other people/companies. Coca Cola can also not forbid someone to write an article about Coca Cola, even if its a negative one.
andresisthename	Good point Bill	#5	[-]
Posts: 84 (10/16/09 17:30:35) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite Ignore User's Posts	This may sounds idiotic to you Bill but I believe one of the sport's bigger Achilles heel is the lack of a short name that can identify it for what it is; a unique sport. The term "RollerBlade" it's truly a brand name whether we like it or not, saying "Inline Speed Skating" does makes it sound dull since it's so damn long a term, "Speed Skating" is still long and can have us confused with Ice Skating; the last thing we would want, and the term "Roller Sports" like it was put for the Olympics proposal it's simply too long and have the potential to have us confused with quite a few other sports out there. Even Skateboarding could be called a "Roller Sport" So it is clear to me that we are pending a name, since "Inline Skating" doesn't imply Inline Speed Skating either, taking into consideration that there is "Aggressive Skating" "Figure Skating" "Slalom Skating" "Downhill Skating" and so on and so forth, with all these disciplines also being Inline Skating. We need to find a way to rename this sport into something that can give us an identity without having us confused with anything else, I remember this issue in Aggressive Skating too, we opt to start calling it "Bladin" to avoid the RollerBlade thing but that term sounds way too street minded which was perfectly ok for us since Aggressive is a street sport. In the case of Inline Speed Skating the issue is somewhat more complicated since this is an athletic sport and calling it by the name of a brand does make it sound like it is some kind of a joke. I'm not sure if something is being done about it but certainly FIRS and USARS should work together to determine a proper ONE word name for this sport. Andres
williambegg	Brand Names.	#6	[-]
Posts: 1423 (10/17/09 00:39:37) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite Ignore User's Posts	Hi Andres, Yes no doubt the name Roller sports cost us in our Olympic Bid, also Inline speed skating did not help, the one known word Universally, be it good bad or indifferent, would have been more recognized by the masses. As a media Buff, I sometimes get confused as to how I should best describe our sport, so people understand & thats a tradgedy, when someone like me has to double think our sports best description. Bill
kenkeu		#7	[-]
Posts: 13 (10/17/09 02:04:05) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite Ignore User's Posts	Then we should all avoid using the term rollerblxxx....... ...we could start by telling our friends and family never to use the world rollerblxxx again
andresisthename		#8	[-]
Posts: 85 (10/17/09 11:12:43) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite Ignore User's Posts	Yes Kenkeu that is clear it have to be done but the real problem is we don't have an effective name to replace it with, I wil stick to Inline Speed Skating until a one word name is made official, though it sounds so dull... A 3 words name for a sport, people often look at me weird after hearing the descryption, and I think is the name's lenght that does it.
Sk8erDan		#9	[-]
Posts: 23 (10/17/09 15:46:19) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite Ignore User's Posts	I'm not sure if this is the case overseas or not but in Australia there is legislation that uses the term Rollerblades, particularly in the NSW road rules. I have pointed out to them via the feedback mechanisms on numerous occasions that Rollerblade is a brand name and that they are just one brand of inline skate but have never heard any feedback, or seen any amendments made. The legislation also includes the terms roller skates and bicycles, both of which are the correct terms for these activities so I don't see why they can't get inline skating correct. It would be interesting to see what happens in a legal case involving this legislation.
MachV		#10	[-]
Posts: 57 (10/17/09 19:30:02) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite Ignore User's Posts	Having a brand name does not mean that you have the right to threaten other people/companies. Coca Cola can also not forbid someone to write an article about Coca Cola, even if its a negative one. Coca Cola has sued and won a case for using the name "Coke" as a generic term for a soft drink. They must sue to retain the brand name and not let it become part of the everyday language usage. If "Coke" became part of the generic language, then Pespsi, Mountain Dew and others could use it. You can write and article good or bad about Coca Cola, but it has to be about Coca Cola and not used as a generic term meaning a soft drink. This is what Rollerblade is doing. Bont would have to do the same to keep their brand name. Leroy Last Edited By: MachV 10/17/09 19:35:21. Edited 1 times.
snailskates	brand names	#11	[-]
Posts: 119 (10/18/09 14:21:02) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite Ignore User's Posts	...so what we need is a one word unique brand name for our type of skating........ tarmac skating........ quick skating......... faasst skating............airspeed skating (ie in the fresh air)........... wheelspeed skating...... speedwheel skating......... linespeed skating speedline skating ( I quite like this one!!) (bit like speed dating though lol) erm...anyone got a few more ideas to throw around??? Snail
andrgin		#12	[-]
Posts: 16 (10/18/09 15:09:42) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite Ignore User's Posts	MachV wrote: Having a brand name does not mean that you have the right to threaten other people/companies. Coca Cola can also not forbid someone to write an article about Coca Cola, even if its a negative one. Coca Cola has sued and won a case for using the name "Coke" as a generic term for a soft drink. They must sue to retain the brand name and not let it become part of the everyday language usage. If "Coke" became part of the generic language, then Pespsi, Mountain Dew and others could use it. You can write and article good or bad about Coca Cola, but it has to be about Coca Cola and not used as a generic term meaning a soft drink. This is what Rollerblade is doing. Bont would have to do the same to keep their brand name. 1.) This was because coke is not a name for all soft drinks. If you use the name coke for all coke like drinks like pepsi cola I am sure they would have lost, at least if the judge did not receive some extra money ;-) 2.) It is a complete different thing if you as normal person so coke to pepsi cola or if Pepsi itself calls something coke. As I private person you should have the right to call things as you like, but if you are a company that is selling his products this is a completely different thing. 3.) It is on of the most important thing in democracy, that newspapers can write what they want and are not censored like in China. It does not matter if sometimes things are a bit wrong. If this happens too often then the quality decreases and noone beleaves it any more, but they must be able to write what they want. 4.) I am not sure if it is a good idea to threaten a newspaper. If they get angry about you they can write an article every day about someone who had an accident with your product and thinks that this could have something to do with the quality of your products.
MachV		#13	[-]
Posts: 58 (10/18/09 16:48:45) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite Ignore User's Posts	andrgin wrote: 1.) This was because coke is not a name for all soft drinks. If you use the name coke for all coke like drinks like pepsi cola I am sure they would have lost, at least if the judge did not receive some extra money ;-) Rollerblade is not the the name for all inline skates. It is the name of a company that makes inline skates named with a specific brand name called Rollerblade. Yes, the common person can call them what they want, but not in the business marketplace. If I go to a resturant and order a Coke, but the waiter/waitress brings me a Pepsi, then Coke has lost a sale. You can only lose so many sales before you go out of business! If I go into a skate shop asking for Rollerblades, and I want Rollerblade skates, but the salesperson brings me Bont skates you get the idea. Leroy
kenkeu		#14	[-]
Posts: 15 (10/19/09 05:18:11) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite Ignore User's Posts
kenkeu		#15	[-]
Posts: 16 (10/19/09 05:23:06) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite Ignore User's Posts	snailskate ...new name .....agreed many would stared at me blank when i mentioned the name inline skating playing with names ...eh what about Bladerunner ?? a friend once thought that inline skating is ice skating with ropes (tossing the ribbons around the skating rink)...such a sissy name for such a fantastic sport. Speedskate Its the only sport that gets you flying at ground level ...........flying without wings... Last Edited By: kenkeu 10/19/09 05:36:23. Edited 4 times.
oldkiwi		#16	[-]
Posts: 638 (10/19/09 06:35:40) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite Ignore User's Posts	How about a different approach. Since "rollerblading" has become so ingrained as a decription of our sport, why don't we suggest that FIRS licenses the acronym "Speed Rollerblading" from the Rollerblade company for our official description.(for a fee of coarse, and it doesn't mean we have to use their gear) I see this as a win/win 1. No more being confused with the poofter "inline artistic" crowd. 2. No more being confused with the "no neck" hockey crowd. Actually, we might as well distance ourselfs from FIRS as well and have CIC as our top tier, although we need to change their name too. That way, we as a group are only interested in our version of Speed Skating and are run by an organisation that is not distracted by the other "roller sport" activities. We have been under the FIRS banner ever since we started having Olympic ambitions and we have not dared to jump off that band wagon. Our sport has evolved away from our origional "roller skating" and now needs to stand alone. REVOLUTION I say. cheers johnny (obviously my coffee is strong this morning)
andrgin		#17	[-]
Posts: 17 (10/19/09 09:18:55) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite Ignore User's Posts	MachV wrote: andrgin wrote: 1.) This was because coke is not a name for all soft drinks. If you use the name coke for all coke like drinks like pepsi cola I am sure they would have lost, at least if the judge did not receive some extra money ;-) Rollerblade is not the the name for all inline skates. It is the name of a company that makes inline skates named with a specific brand name called Rollerblade. Yes, the common person can call them what they want, but not in the business marketplace. If I go to a resturant and order a Coke, but the waiter/waitress brings me a Pepsi, then Coke has lost a sale. You can only lose so many sales before you go out of business! If I go into a skate shop asking for Rollerblades, and I want Rollerblade skates, but the salesperson brings me Bont skates you get the idea. 1.) If a company like Bont would use the wrong name Rollerblades for their skates, this would be a problem, but not if a journalist who has nothing to do with the sport and only has one hour left to fill the bottom of a page with an article. 2.) If coke is a common word for any coke like drinks like pepsi cola and coca cola this would be ok, because this is, what you wanted. If you want a coca cola because you do not like pepsi, then you say "please bring me an original coca cola" and you also get what you want. 3.) If I want skates from Rollerblade then I would say "bringt me some inline skates from rollerblade" and then I will get what I want. It doesnt matter how things are called as long as the customer gets, what he want. If most people see "Rollerblades" as a definition for any inline skates, then why not use it. In Austria we have many companys like "Dixo" or "Uhu" who where so successful that noone uses the original name any more. Often people do not know how the things are officially called.
andresisthename	Don't think so	#18	[-]
Posts: 86 (10/19/09 12:08:43) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite Ignore User's Posts	andrgin I hate to disagree with you but I do, nobody questions RollerBlade's legacy in the history of Inline Skating, but seriously I don't think we should use a brand name to name a sport, this is something that might not sound ridiculous to you guys, maybe because some of you came out of your mother's belly wearing skates, but you need to understand that to most people around the world (That are not so sympathetic about the sport) we are not even doing a sport, to them it's just a hobby at best. Well it might be a hobby to the rec types like me but to many dedicated athletes it's a serious REAL sport. Now calling such sport by a brand name makes a mockery of it, it enforces the Hobby instead of a sport view and there is nothing any of you can say to convince me that that didn't take points away from us on the Olympic bid even though it was called "Roller Sports" and not "Rollerblade" just because of the fact that people and the media seem attached to the brand name. To me, calling the sport by that name it's like calling Swimming "Speedoing" or something that ridiculous, many of the name suggestions offered here are kinda catchy but they suffer from the same as the official denominations do, and what is that? Well they are too damn long! We need a one word name that can identify the sport and make it unmistakable from other sports. So in the end it's not really about if RollerBlade should be or not complaining about the copywright abusive use of their brand name but about our beautiful sport being in the need of a new name because quite honestly even if RollerBlade would be fine with everyone using their name, I would still think we shouldn't use it. Now don't bite me in the neck for it or send me to skate back in the kid's area (like some here love to do, hehehehe) It's just my five cents. Andres
snailskates	let's play!	#19	[-]
Posts: 120 (10/19/09 14:09:53) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite Ignore User's Posts	I like bladerunner kenkeu, v cool associations anyway... to play some more....? bladespeeding....speedblading...turboblading.......jetblading........speedrolling..........(to separate us from ice). A bit different......powerolling...........speededgeing...........just roller racing?......come on you lot, lets have a play around with the names, anythings got to be shorter than inline speed skating and better than rollersports lol!!! ttfn Snail
andresisthename		#20	[-]
Posts: 87 (10/19/09 18:07:29) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite Ignore User's Posts	Uhm... Speedsliding Speedracing InlineSprinting Inlinestorming!! (just kidding) Inlinerunning (good one) Inlineracing From yours I like Speedblading and Speedrolling I definitely incline towards Speedblading.

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