2013-08-03/04 - RideLondon (Freecycle/Grand Prix/100/Classic)

Me too -

Didn't get a place through the ballot. Will have a look at the charity slots.

My letter says "You were unsuccessful in the original ballot but you are on of the lucky 1,000 winners of the bequest draw."

I'm in!

My place is confirmed!

I didn't get a place.. No worries I'll be doing London-Brighton-London instead with mates, which is free and not a nodder in sight.

wow.
i wonder how the people who own "London Classic" race feel about the Boris ripping their name..

Well in short we were not flattered to be so well imitated. We wrote letters, we got replies and in lawyerspeak we were told to f**k off. We are a fly on the windscreen of a corporate juggernaut and the organisation behind this series of rides is the same as that behind the marathon. If we had £50k to burn we'd take them to the high court. We don't so we didn't. If they want to wear the clothes of Tweed Run or Rolapaluza they'll take that too.

The people behind this event have no interest in cycling in London or indeed cycling in my opinion. They are just draining as much as they can from a £2.5BN a year cycling boom.

All start to spam them with complaints?

Have donated a £10 the authentic London Classic' nominated charity. As entry to the fake one is £48, a nominal £2 donation from forum members successful to the fake one might be a nice gesture...

Everything seems to have been re-branded "The London-Surrey" this or that.

Seeing as last year i came in after the DFL had been awarded at the proper London Classic, and the year before "won" it. I am somewhat doubting my suitability for this particular ride...

I have a place.

Cancelled. Bugger.

@london classic, - i am sure if it is about your TM copyright of the name you can surely do something?

on another note I saw a sign for the London Bridges ride in the tube.
i wonder if john mac is aware?

Hi everyone,

I have recently been referred to this forum by a friend of mine. I am planning to cycle from London to Paris in June with a group of friends and I was wondering if any of you did it before?

Any advice/impressions will be very much appreciated!

I am posting here because as a new member I am not allowed to start any threads yet.

Cheers!

screenwipes, there are plenty of London to Paris threads, as quite a few people ride that route. Just use the search. And welcome.

@london classic, - i am sure if it is about your TM copyright of the name you can surely do something?

In our naivety we didn't TM 'The London Classic' - it can't be TM'd anyway as its too generic. Then theres the issue of £350 to trademark, we're non profit so that would eat into our operating costs with no discernible benefit to our intended charity. We could have taken them on passing off laws but as ever their lawyers are bigger and richer than ours...

Thanks Oliver, I was just reading them

In our naivety we didn't TM 'The London Classic' - it can't be TM'd anyway as its too generic.

Then in what way were you being naïve?

I hope they don't try to prevent you from using the name, somehow. You could always go for 'The Real/Original London Classic' in that case, I suppose.

In our naivety we didn't TM 'The London Classic' - it can't be TM'd anyway as its too generic.
IANAL, and certainly not an IP lawyer - but my understanding is that you can trademark "The London Classic" as a phrase, as it pertains to a cycling event.

What you could not do is to TM it as a phrase applicable to anything.

i.e. I could market a workshop for stealing cars, and call it the London Classic, and I would not be infringing your trademark.

As soon as I create a cycling event, and call it the London Classic, however, then I am instantly creating confusion as to what this "London Classic" actually is, and am most probably infringing on your rights.

I

As soon as I create a cycling event, and call it the London Classic, however, then I am instantly creating confusion as to what this "London Classic" actually is, and am most probably infringing on your rights.

That counts as 'passing off' - its actually quite a hard thing to prove in reality. Especially if you are up against an experienced and aggressive legal team.

@Oliver - in terms of naivety I suppose we never thought a small SE London ride would have its name nicked...more fool us:(

Well in short we were not flattered to be so well imitated. We wrote letters, we got replies and in lawyerspeak we were told to f**k off. We are a fly on the windscreen of a corporate juggernaut and the organisation behind this series of rides is the same as that behind the marathon. If we had £50k to burn we'd take them to the high court. We don't so we didn't. If they want to wear the clothes of Tweed Run or Rolapaluza they'll take that too.

The people behind this event have no interest in cycling in London or indeed cycling in my opinion. They are just draining as much as they can from a £2.5BN a year cycling boom.

I'm appalled.

But this other thing, it's not called 'The London Classic', is it? Isn't it called 'The Classic'? I'm guessing purely on the title of this thread...

Aha, I see the 'London - Surrey Classic'. I forced myself to look at their website.

Very RedWhiteAndBlue isn't it...

@Oliver - in terms of naivety I suppose we never thought a small SE London ride would have its name nicked...more fool us:(

Ah well, don't forget that it strays NORTH OF THE RIVER.

You were asking for it, really. :)

:)

One day I might post up some funny bits from the lawyers letters I got. In one he tries to tell me that the 'Ride London Classic' will be as important as Paris-Roubaix and Milan San Remo!