Peloton Seeks To Invalidate 'Spinning' Trademark Held By Trademark Bully

from the spin-cycle dept

Back in 2010, we discussed that the at-the-time "spin class" craze in the fitness world was encountering the fact that one company, Mad Dogg Athletics, held a trademark on the term "spinning" for use in the fitness industry. Mad Dogg had taken to going around the world and threatening anyone else using the term with trademark infringement as a result. And, to be clear, they had a lot of targets for these threats, which factored into the argument that term was now generic and hadn't been properly enforced as a trademark for years.

Since 2010, the spin class craze has morphed out of the brick and mortar gym and into home fitness, with the current fad being app-driven home stationary spin bikes. The leader in that field is, of course, Peloton. Mad Dogg sued Peloton for trademark infringement last year over patents it holds for core features of its bikes. In what may be something of a clap back in that dispute, however, Peloton has now petitioned to have Mad Dogg's "spinning" trademark canceled entirely.

Peloton claimed that rival fitness company Mad Dogg Athletics is “abusively enforcing” its trademark rights of ‘Spinning’ and ‘Spin’ across the indoor biking industry in a petition filed to the US Patent and Trademark Office’s Trademark Trial and Appeal Board (USPTO) yesterday.

The petition argued that the terms are generic and that Mad Dogg’s lawyers have been ceaseless in their campaign to chase down infringers. It also cites John Baudhuin, co-founder of Mad Dogg, admitting to spending “hundreds of thousands of dollars a year” on litigation.

This is Peloton calling out the game, which is very useful. Rather than focusing primarily on the business of selling spin bikes, Mad Dogg instead seems to be focused on policing its trademark. The argument that the term "spinning" has become generic is only bolstered by the high volume of victims of Mad Dogg's bullying. In addition, it would be interesting to see Mad Dogg attempt to come up with any evidence that the wider public currently associates the term with its products, because that feels like it would be a stretch to say the least.

Peloton's petition calls out the extremes to which Mad Dogg has gone in its bullying.

“Enough is enough. It is time to put a stop to Mad Dogg’s tactic of profiting by threatening competitors, marketplaces and even journalists with enforcement of generic trademarks.”

Imagine the instant good the USPTO could do simply by invalidating a trademark for what has become a generic term in the fitness industry.

Filed Under: spinning, trademark, upsto
Companies: mad dogg athletics, peloton

Spin Bike EBay Listing Removed Because 'Spin Bike' Is Apparently A Non-Generic Trademark

from the sit-and-spin dept

Sometimes you try really hard at something and you still fail. Such is the case with Mad Dogg Athletics' attempt to keep its "spinning" trademarks from becoming generic. We wrote about the company's marks on stationary bike classes nearly five years ago, when it was busy suing several gyms in Denmark for offering spinning classes. In fact, both before and after those legal actions, MDA has been incredibly active in trying to enforce its trademarks. They tried really, really hard.

But the company failed. Much like other types of workout classes, nobody sees spinning as a source identifier any longer. Nobody thinks of Mad Dogg Athletics. Hell, most people haven't even heard of MDA. But the company hasn't given up, as shown by how it got eBay to remove a listing for an exercise bike for using the term "spin."

VeRO is ebay’s Verified Rights Owner program. VeRO allows a right’s owner (someone who has a verified trademark, copyright, etc.) to request removal of an item. This action, of course, is not without controversy. Business owners have claimed that this process is often abused and overreaching. I will leave that discussion for another day. For now, you should know that a company by the name of Mad Dogg Athletics, Inc. (MDA) is a member of the eBay VeRO Program and uses this program to enforce the nearly one hundred trademarks it owns, which include: spin, spinning, spinner, spin yoga, spinfitness, and spin daddy. With that said, only MDA’s Spin® bike can be called that, and so my client’s “spin bike” listing was removed due to use of the word spin.

Actually going after eBay listings for using a word like "spin" would be ridiculous in its own right, but this is about something much deeper for MDA: the term spinning is generic. It just is. And it's not like this kind of trademark-to-generic evolution is without precedent. Yoga and Pilates went through a similar transition, having been source-identifiers for consumers but soon turning into descriptions of a particular process or type of class, rather than any kind of brand. Keep in mind, as the link above notes, the test for whether a term is generic is the wider public's perception, not the individual purchasers' perception. Go ask someone on the street whether "spinning" is associated with any particular brand and see what reaction you get. It's generic.

I know I am not a professional cycler by any stretch, but as someone who at least recreationally partakes in indoor cycling, I had never even heard of the MDA. I bet you if I polled the people at my class, most haven’t either. It’s also important mention that on its page for “indoor cycling,” Wikipedia states, “[i]t is commonly called spinning.” Yelp allows you to search for “spin” and “spinning studio.” ABC News refers to SoulCycle as a spin studio. For the record, they are not. I dare you to search any cycling studio’s reviews for the word “spin.” Almost every review I found seemed to use the word interchangeably.

This is a good thing. And, actually, it's something that MDA could take advantage of, if it so desired. After all, MDA was indeed the originator of the term and it would be good business to make a marketing campaign out of its expertise with spinning. Instead, MDA appears to want to rage against the inevitable with legal action after legal action. Sadly, despite all of that effort, it isn't going to work -- and the company is just, well... spinning its wheels.

Filed Under: bike, generic, genericide, spin, spin bike, trademark
Companies: ebay, mad dogg athletics, mda

'Spinning' Trademarked; Gyms Being Threatened For Holding Spinning Classes Sans License

from the ride-that-bike dept

If you've been to a gym lately, you've probably seen how "spinning" classes have become quite popular these days. When I first heard of them, I couldn't figure out why they called them "spinning," rather than just "stationary bike" classes, but now I know: apparently "spinning" is a trademarked term, held by a company called Mad Dogg Athletics, and the company is gaining a reputation for trying to enforce that trademark around the globe. If you look at the USPTO, the company appears to have a ton of different trademarks on "spinning," covering not just exercise classes, but also sports drinks, lotions and creams, nutritional supplements and computer software. It looks like the original spinning trademark was filed for back in 1992 -- so it's entirely possible that this company really did come up with the term and popularize it.

However, it seems that many people now feel that the term really has become generic, and I'd have to agree. I've known about "spinning classes" for ages, but never had any idea it was associated with any particular company -- until now. And that's only because an anonymous reader sent in this story of how Mad Dogg has had lawyers threatening gyms in Denmark (Google translation of the original Danish). The Danish gyms seem pretty upset by this, arguing that "spinning" has become a common generic word, and no one associates it with Mad Dogg at all. It also appears that nearly all of the gyms contacted have simply decided to call their stationary bike classes something else, rather than give in and pay a licensing fee just to call a spinning class a spinning class.

Filed Under: denmark, gyms, spinning, stationary bicycle, trademark
Companies: mad dogg athletics