Big Burke announcement

[deadheadskier]

Jesus.....Steve, Bill. Someone come in and tell this kid what a moron he's being.

 

[thetrailboss]

Jesus.....Steve, Bill. Someone come in and tell this kid what a moron he's being.

They can try...like many locals have tried diplomatically. One former employee told me how during the height of the KT showdown last year he pulled Q-2 aside and pled with him to rethink his course. It did not work. You can lead a horse to water but can't force it to drink.

 

[BenedictGomez]

Folks here are all in agreement that the "Q" marketing thing has been a big mistake and looks dumb. Q-2 is apparently undeterred. During the past few months he made an effort to rename the physical mountain "Q Burke Mountain" officially. That did not get too far.

When that did not work, he contacted local merchants and told them that any "Burke" merchandise that they sell, independent of the mountain, must be changed to "Q Burke Mountain."

Wow. This isnt going to end well. Clearly this guy isnt really a marketing genius, but how tone-deaf can one man seriously be?

How exactly are people finding out about this anyway, does he personally go into little Mom & Pop shops in Vermont and start bossing people around?

Screw that...
I'm pretty sure he can't force anyone to do that. "Burke Mountain" is a physical feature that cannot be copyrighted.

Yeah, this makes no sense. It would be one thing if the company name was "Ski Douchebag's Resort (SDR)", which is located on Burke Mountain, then you wouldnt be able to use the SDR name without permission, but as you said, "Burke Mountain" really is the proper name of the hill.

Also, given he's claiming the actual name of the business is now "Q Burke Mountain" and not "Burke Mountain", that would infer that your merchandise/art MUST be referring to the ski area business and not to the mountain itself. Good luck with that.

 

[mister moose]

You either own the trademark to "Burke Mountain" or you don't. A quick search yielded no trademarks, not for Burke Mountain, Q Burke Mountain, Q-Burke Mountain, or Q-Burke. BURKE'S BACON BAR however is taken.

 

[BenedictGomez]

You either own the trademark to "Burke Mountain" or you don't. A quick search yielded no trademarks, not for Burke Mountain, Q Burke Mountain, Q-Burke Mountain, or Q-Burke. BURKE'S BACON BAR however is taken.

How can you trademark the proper name of a physical place that you don't own?

That sounds like trademarking Mount Everest or the Gulf of Mexico.

 

[mister moose]

From the USPTO.GOV website:

Under U.S. trademark law, geographic terms or signs are not registrable as trademarks if they are geographically descriptive or geographically misdescriptive of where the goods/services originate. The theory is that other producers in that area would need to be able to use a geographic term to describe where their goods/services are from and that one person should not be able to prevent others from using that term. If a term is misdescriptive for the goods/services, consumers would be mislead and/or deceived by the use of the term on goods/services that do not come from the place identified.However, a geographical indication, as defined in TRIPS, identifies a good, not merely a geographic area. If a geographic term is used in such a way as to identify the source of the goods/services and, over time, consumers start to recognize it as identifying a particular company or manufacturer or group of producers, the geographic term no longer describes only where the goods/services come from, it also describes the "source" of the goods/services. We say that the term has "secondary meaning" or "acquired distinctiveness." The primary meaning to consumers is the geographic place, whereas the secondary meaning to consumers is the producing or manufacturing source. If a descriptive term has "secondary meaning" to consumers, the term has a source-identifying capacity and is protectable as a trademark. Because of this feature of U.S. trademark law, geographical terms or signs can also be protected as trademarks or collective marks.

So if you qualify as a geographical indicator, (Vermont Maple Syrup) it is trademarkable. I'm not sure you could make the case for trademarking "Vermont" or in this case "Burke Mountain". That's a lawyer question.

My point was more that if you don't own it, you can't direct its use.

 

[Edd]

So I said that I would update the thread on things that I learned/saw on my visit to the NEK last week. Here's another installment.

Folks here are all in agreement that the "Q" marketing thing has been a big mistake and looks dumb. Q-2 is apparently undeterred. During the past few months he made an effort to rename the physical mountain "Q Burke Mountain" officially. That did not get too far.

When that did not work, he contacted local merchants and told them that any "Burke" merchandise that they sell, independent of the mountain, must be changed to "Q Burke Mountain." For example, a local potter who makes mugs with an image of the mountain from Darling Hill, has been told that he can't use "Burke Mountain" as the label...it has to be "Q Burke Mountain." Post cards that are taken by local photographers and show Burke Mountain from Lyndonville? It has to be Q Burke Mountain.

:roll:

All you can do is laugh.

Whoa, I can't believe this is sounding worse and worse. Where's the bottom, here? Sounds like a body snatcher situation where the guy doesn't understand humans.

 

[trackbiker]

They are trying to make the "Q" brand like the "Mc" in McDonalds or the reversed R in Toys-R-Us where those terms become familiar and people use the term to describe similar but unrelated things. Those type of things have to arise spontaneously. They cannot make it happen. If you try to force it or "push" it, it always is rejected. But then I guess the marketing guy that tried to tell them this got fired.

I think the Q-tips people should come after them for trademark infringement.

 

[Savemeasammy]

During the past few months he made an effort to rename the physical mountain "Q Burke Mountain" officially. That did not get too far.

When that did not work, he contacted local merchants and told them that any "Burke" merchandise that they sell, independent of the mountain, must be changed to "Q Burke Mountain." For example, a local potter who makes mugs with an image of the mountain from Darling Hill, has been told that he can't use "Burke Mountain" as the label...it has to be "Q Burke Mountain." Post cards that are taken by local photographers and show Burke Mountain from Lyndonville? It has to be Q Burke Mountain.

:roll:

All you can do is laugh.

What a jackass. I think his Dad needs to throw him over his knee and spank him. And then take away all of his toys...



Sent from my iPad using AlpineZone mobile app

 

[thetrailboss]

How exactly are people finding out about this anyway, does he personally go into little Mom & Pop shops in Vermont and start bossing people around?

I know that he called the owners of at least two retail establishments and insisted that any products in their store with "Burke Mountain" needed to be changed to "Q Burke Mountain." That was relayed to management and vendors.

 

[deadheadskier]

Smart business people. I would think the retailers would know that no one wants Q Burke logo'd product. It would just turn into dead inventory.

 

[VTKilarney]

True story: His job in the military was public relations. He's probably indirectly responsible for ISIS.


Sent from my iPhone, excuse brevity and typos.

 

[fbrissette]

True story: His job in the military was public relations. He's probably indirectly responsible for ISIS.


Sent from my iPhone, excuse brevity and typos.

Rumor is he's been making phone calls to Iraq to push for Q-ISIS.

 

[thetrailboss]

True story: His job in the military was public relations. He's probably indirectly responsible for ISIS.


Sent from my iPhone, excuse brevity and typos.

If you poke around Burke's FB page and read what "Burke Mountain" has to say, you quickly realize that Q-2 is the one writing the posts. Most are pointed if not douchey.


Sent from my iPhone using AlpineZone

 

[VTKilarney]

If you poke around Burke's FB page and read what "Burke Mountain" has to say, you quickly realize that Q-2 is the one writing the posts. Most are pointed if not douchey.


Sent from my iPhone using AlpineZone

Is there anyone left other than Baby-Q to write posts on Facebook?

 

[thetrailboss]

Is there anyone left other than Baby-Q to write posts on Facebook?

Add it to his job title.

 

[MEtoVTSkier]

You either own the trademark to "Burke Mountain" or you don't. A quick search yielded no trademarks, not for Burke Mountain, Q Burke Mountain, Q-Burke Mountain, or Q-Burke. BURKE'S BACON BAR however is taken.

No one owns it? Quick! Someone grab it and make that MORON quit using it!

 

[thetrailboss]

No one owns it? Quick! Someone grab it and make that MORON quit using it!

Dude, a few weeks ago we could have owned Burke's URL!

 

[from_the_NEK]

Dude, a few weeks ago we could have owned Burke's URL!

But then he would have had the excuse to switch it over to "Qburke.com" .

 

[thetrailboss]

But then he would have had the excuse to switch it over to "Qburke.com" .

We could have bought that too I imagine