Monday, December 25, 2017

Harley suing clothing company over trademark infringement

Milwaukee , WI  (December 22, 2017) BSB— Harley-Davidson is suing California-based clothing company Affliction, alleging the company has sold t-shirts and other items with images that resemble the Harley bar-and-shield logo.

The lawsuit, filed by an affiliate of Harley-Davidson Inc. in the U.S. District Court for Eastern Wisconsin, says a Harley dealer allegedly received a wholesale shipment of Affliction products in October. The dealer told the company the shirts infringed on Harley trademarks and Affliction asked that they be returned.

Harley-Davidson says it matches their logo

The complaint says lawyers for Harley sent a cease-and-desist letter on Oct. 18 to Affliction alleging the company had been selling 20 infringing products and promoting two images as available from its “Artist Den.”

Nearly a month later, Affliction’s lawyers indicated the company would stop selling six of the items but allegedly continued selling the others.

The lawsuit makes six claims against Affliction and asks for an order blocking the company from infringing on Harley trademarks;

Affliction would also have to destroy existing products with infringing images; cover the cost of corrective advertising, pay Harley $2 million per trademark per type of product, pay Harley any profits it earned from infringing items, pay compensatory and punitive damages and pay Harley’s attorney fees.

Two of the Affliction products that allegedly infringe on Harley-Davidson trademarks.


In a statement, Harley spokesman Michael Pflughoeft said Harley’s brand is one of the company’s most important assets and it is “legally required to exercise control over the use of our trademarks.”

“We make every effort to ensure consumers are not confused by the source of merchandise bearing our trademarks. By altering and reproducing the Harley-Davidson logo for use on clothing, we believe Affliction has violated our trademark, and this violation could cause confusion among customers that Affliction is somehow affiliated with or endorsed by Harley-Davidson,” Pflughoeft said.

Harley is no stranger to court fights over its trademarks. In the last two years the company has sued Forever 21, Urban Outfitters and online retailers SunFrog and GearLaunch.

The Urban Outfitters lawsuit was the second one Harley filed against the company after the two settled a 2014 dispute.


SOURCE:  BIZ Times

Saturday, December 16, 2017

H-D: We want "Bronx" and "Harley-Davidson Bronx"trademarked

Milwaukee, Wisconsin (December 15, 2017) — The trademark applications, filed Dec. 8 with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, are for the names “Bronx” and “Harley-Davidson Bronx.” Both applications state the names are intended for use on “motorcycles and structural parts therefor,” indicating the Bronx is intended for a new model and not for any number of accessories or merchandise.

Harley-Davidson gas tank logo

The trademark filings do not provide any information on this future model, or when we might see it, but we can make some inferences from the name. The Bronx conjures images of a tough, urban environment, which suggests the motorcycle will be a muscular-looking cruiser rather than a tourer. A bobber with fat tires and chopped fenders comes to mind, likely using Harley-Davidson’s new Softail chassis.

Of course, this is all conjecture at this point. Trademark applications, while telling, are not definitive, and still subject to vetting by the USPTO. And though we don’t know exactly when we’ll see the Harley Bronx, the trademarking process does provide a rough timeframe, with an applicant required to use the name within 36 months of the USPTO giving its approval or else lose the name.

We know Harley-Davidson has stated an ambitious goal of producing 100 new models over the next decade, and it looks like the Bronx will be one of them.

When asked about the name “Bronx,” a Harley-Davidson spokesperson says the company is unable to comment on future products.

SOURCE: Motorcycle.com

Thursday, December 14, 2017

Motorcycle Mama rides again at age 94

San Diego, California (December 14, 2017) — The last time Millie Koenig rode a motorcycle was in 1949, but the feel of the wind in her face and the thrill of the open road was a sensation the 94-year-old Escondido widow never quite got out of her system.

So when Koenig’s retirement home recently offered to grant a wish from her bucket list, she didn’t hesitate. On Saturday, Koenig climbed on a motorcycle once again and rode, as a passenger, in the Escondido Jaycees Christmas Parade.

Dressed in black leather riding chaps and jacket and a festive Christmas sweater and red knit gloves, she beamed and waved to the crowds from the back seat of the 2016 Victory Cross Country Touring cycle piloted by Mick Sobczak, president of the American Legion Riders Chapter 149.

Millie Koenig, 94, waves from the back of Mick Sobczak's motorcycle in the Escondido Jaycees Christmas Parade on Saturday. She was granted her wish to ride again, the first time in 68 years, through a "bucket list" wish-granting program at her Cypress Court retirement home.

“How do I feel? I’m flabbergasted. This is all just so wonderful,” said Koenig, who gave up cycling for more se Motorcycles were a hobby Koenig enjoyed with her first husband when they lived in Big Spring, Texas, from 1947 to 1949. Back then, the couple was so poor they couldn’t afford windshields for their Harley-Davidsons. So to avoid a mouthful of flying insects whenever she rode, Koenig said, in a characteristic quip, “I learned to not talk.”

“It was fascinating,” she said of cycling. “There was plenty of fresh air and I loved it, even when the sands blew. And the people in the motorcycle club were so friendly, even though I was a Yankee.”

A 1947 photo of Millie Koenig on her Harley-Davidson in Big Spring, Texas. (Millie Koenig)

Koenig was born in 1923 in the Bronx and worked as a secretary in a Manhattan office near the Empire State Building. She was 24 when she met and married her first husband, a war veteran, who moved her to Texas where he’d landed a railroad job.

They lived in a barren housing project where she cooked and heated their bathwater over a kerosene stove. It was a difficult and dreary life, so the local cycling club was a welcome respite. Within two years, her husband lost his job, so they moved to Chula Vista to live with his family and they reluctantly gave up their motorcycles.

Two years after she gave birth to their son, her husband abandoned them right before Christmas in 1953. She realized later he had been suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder from World War II.

Destitute and with no family on the West Coast, she found a job as a secretary in the Chula Vista school district offices and she swore off marriage for good. That was, until she met Fred Koenig, at a local square-dancing party. He was widowed with three boys ages 9 to 12. They married in 1961 and moved to Escondido, where they joined Emmanuel Faith Community Church and he ran a successful plumbing business.

Millie Koenig, 94,is fitted with a motorcycle helmet by Mick Sobczak of the American Legion Riders. She was granted her wish to ride again, the first time in 68 years, through a "bucket list" wish-granting program at her Cypress Court retirement home in Escondido. (Pam Kragen/San Diego U-T)

Life was good until a series of tragedies struck in the 1970s. When Fred’s youngest son was killed in a motorcycle accident, he had a nervous breakdown and could no longer work. Millie went back to work to support her family, this time for the Escondido school district. Then, in 1978, her husband died in a hang-gliding accident.

She credits her deep religious faith with getting her through those difficult years.

“I believe God had a plan for me,” she said. “He never gave me more than I could handle.”

After her husband’s death, Koenig gave up square dancing.

“When you don’t have a partner, you get potluck. I mostly got pot, so I quit,” she joked.

Instead, she took up volunteer work. She collected clothing for orphans in Eastern Europe and went on church mission trips. About 20 years ago, she began volunteering as a reading teacher at Conway Elementary School in Escondido, where she said her greatest reward is “seeing all the kids running up to me to say, ‘Miss Millie! Miss Mille!’”

Millie Koenig, 94, with Mick Sobczak of the American Legion Riders. She was granted her wish to ride again, the first time in 68 years, through a "bucket list" wish-granting program at her Cypress Court retirement home in Escondido. (Pam Kragen/San Diego U-T)

“She is who I want to be when I grow up,” said Debbie Gemmill, who runs Conway’s Everyone a Reader program. “In all the things that have happened to Millie over the years, I’ve never been greeted by her with anything but a smile. She’s just a genuinely happy person.”

Four years ago, Koenig moved into Cypress Court retirement community, where wellness director Judy Lucous runs the “Dreams Do Come True” program.

She started the program in 2012 when a resident on hospice expressed a desire to go shopping one last time. Lucous was able to take the woman to the mall before she died. Since then, Cypress Court has granted four more wishes, including taking one resident up in a tethered hot-air balloon, another para-sailing and a third for a brief sail on a wheelchair-modified catamaran.

In September, 94-year-old Pauline Lawrence had her wish granted to ride a bicycle again. Lawrence was seated on the curb in front of Cypress Court bright and early Saturday morning to watch her friend Koenig roll by in the parade.

“It couldn’t happen to a nicer person,” Lawrence said. “Millie is like the ambassador for Cypress Court. Everyone loves her.”

Lucous said Koenig has become an important part of the greeting committee for new residents at Cypress Court. She crochets hand towels for every newcomer. She also has brought in Conway students to perform for residents.

“Millie is the life of our community,” Lucous said. “Her light shines wherever she goes and she is always doing so much for her fellow residents. We wanted to make this happen for her so that we could give the woman who truly embodies the Cypress Court spirit the opportunity to make her wish come true.”

When Koenig asked Lucous about taking a motorcycle ride, she thought it would just be a quick spin around the block. But Lucous enlisted Sobczak, and he invited Millie for a ride in the parade. Lucous also was invited to ride as the guest of chapter member Gary Teicher.

Motorcycling has come a long way since 1949. Instead of a leather cap and goggles, Koenig wore an aerodynamic helmet with piped-in Christmas music and fancy leather riding gear borrowed from a friend. She’s known for dressing to the nines in thrift-shop finds, and was decked out Saturday in holiday gear from her Christmas tree earrings to her polka-dot socks.

Koenig’s three surviving sons don’t live nearby, so they weren’t on hand to see her ceremonial ride on Saturday. She’ hoping to surprise them with photos when she gathers this Christmas with some of her 16 grandchildren and 26 great-grandchildren.

“My riding days gave me some of my fondest memories and provided me with a sense of courage and independence I don’t know I would’ve found otherwise,” she said. “I’m so excited to be riding again ... and in a parade, too. It’s a once-in-a-lifetime thing.”


SOURCE: San Diego Union Tribune
STORY BY: Pam Kragen

Monday, December 11, 2017

Bundy:The biker dog that raises funds for charity

Sidney, Australia (December 10, 2017) — How do you teach an Australian stumpy-tailed cattle dog to ride a behind the wheel of a motorcycle? Start by pushing the dog sitting on the motorbike up and down the driveway, said Tex O'Grady who owns the dog, Bundy. Then a lap of the block. Turn the engine on next time. "Eventually that block becomes a lap of Australia," Mr O'Grady said.


Bundy the cattle dog has now clocked up one million kms behind the wheel of a motorbike to raise funds for charity.  Photo: Helen Nezdropa

Eleven years of riding around Australia turned into 1 million kilometres (without a scratch or a crash) late last month when the two were returning from a quick 3000-kilometre round trip to Broken Hill.

Bundy, 11, and Mr O'Grady, 61, are both recovering from trauma. Bundy broke her back and was paralysed when she was four. She was rehabilitated, with the help of a long support sling under her back, fan letters from children urging the dog and her vet to keep going, and physiotherapy that Mr O'Grady still does before and after long rides.

Mr O'Grady joined the navy at 15, and spent most of his career as a coxswain on a submarine. Most of what he did is still classified. But a few years after leaving the military, he was diagnosed with severe post traumatic stress disorder related to his time at sea, which he said may account for three failed marriages by the time he was 35.

"I went through a couple of marriages, and got a told a couple of times that I needed help." 

Tex O'Grady and Bundy, who have ridden 1 million kilometres by motorbike for charity. 
Photo: Helen Nezdropa

He found if he talked about his PTSD, he could keep on top of it.

"I now ride for PTSD awareness and for emergency services personnel," he said.
Bundy is a registered assistance animal, who received training from non-profit Young Diggers, which trains therapy dogs and veterans suffering from PTSD.

Bundy is the only dog in Australia who has permission - except in the Northern Territory and South Australia - to ride between the handlebar and the driver of a vehicle. Because of Mr O'Grady's PTSD, Bundy was granted an exemption from regulation 297-3 of the Australian Road Rules. It prohibits an animal from riding on the motor bike between the rider and the handlebars.

Sitting on top of the sheepskin-lined petrol tank of Mr O'Grady's Italian Moto Guzzi 1200 Stelvio, Bundy wears goggles, a leather jacket and a harness under the jacket tying the dog to Mr O'Grady.

"If I was to fall off, she would come with me," he said. Mr O'Grady says Bundy is far safer than a dog riding in the back of a ute.

The pair have ridden about 85,000 kilometres around Australia this year to attend fundraisers, from small events for children with rare illnesses to those held by larger organisations.

These include fundraising for Red Nose Day in the Great Australian Ride, the White Ribbon Campaign, prostate cancer, organ donation, the police, and events to raise funds and support for veterans and emergency workers with PTSD.

During the week, Mr O'Grady and Bundy also visit nursing homes and hospitals.

After he was diagnosed with PTSD, Mr O'Grady found the only place he felt relaxed was on his motorbike on the open road.

"You are on your own, nobody is inside your head. I love it, there is nothing better than being on the open road on a day like today. Got my dog there. My helmet's full of thoughts, and I am the world's best singer and joke teller until I take it off."

He can't handle confrontation or crowded places. "And I don't sit with my back to the door. If I am sitting in a cafe, I always sit where I can see a door or an entrance."

Young Diggers says dogs like Bundy are like "dog medicine" for veterans with PTSD.

"Your ability to cope will improve because you are no longer alone in this painful journey; you have a soul mate in your dog who is ever-loyal and compassionate."

SOURCE: The Sidney Morning Herald