According to a Mexican newspaper, La Journada, a Mexican businessman, who happened to own the "Sportster" trademark in Mexico, won a four year battle against Harley-Davidson.

The Sixth Court Collegiate decided that Alberto Lenz is the rightful owner of the "Sportster" trademark, at least in Mexico. Hence, Harley-Davidson is now responsible for paying his company 40% of the sales price of every Sportster motorcycle sold in Mexico since 1989.

It hasn't yet been calculated exactly what that amounts to. But with each Sportster selling for between $6,000 to $12,000 since 1989, Harley's liability could be between $2,400 to $4,800 per motorcycle. That would work out to something like $3.2 million in royalties for every 1,000 Sportsters sold since 1989. Yikes!

Interestingly enough, Lenz had once offered the Sportster trademark for sale to the MoCo for a sum of $100K. But Harley refused, opting to instead to ignore the trademark dispute and let Lenz try his luck in the Mexican courts.

I guess what amazes me is that an American company like Harley was actually stupid enough to think that Mexican courts would see things their way. Duh!

This decision comes at a time when Harley-Davidson is going all out in selling it bikes outside US borders.

I haven't found any news of this printed in American-based media, only Mexican media.

Here is a link to La Journada (In spanish)...
http://www.jornada.unam.mx/....litigio-a-harley-davidson

And here is a link to the Google-translated article...
http://translate.google.com/....litigio%2da%2dharley%2ddavidson

Labels: Harley Davidson, Harley Davidson Sportster, Lawsuits

Wiley-X, a manufacturer of protective eyewear, popular with motorcyclists, issued a press release earlier this month announcing a settlement in its patent-infrigement lawsuit against it chief rival, Panoptx.

http://www.wileyx.com/company/ news.aspx

At issue is Wiley-X's patented technology, they describe as a foam-shield fitting between the glasses and the face, that blocks moisture but allows air to pass through, and is also detachable from the frame.

Though hard to understand, it appears that it's only those glasses with detachable foam-gaskets, also known as "eyecups", that's at issue.

Panoptx apparently duplicated this patent on its "Velocity CV" series of eyewear, of which they sell five varieties, popular with motorcyclists.

Under the terms of the settlement, Panoptx is to cease distributing the Velocity CV series, as well as the Warrior series which it sells to the military, by the end of 2008. It also must pay 2008 royalties for all such sales to Wiley-X.

Most riding glasses have some type of foam gasket around the lens sockets to cushion the frame against the face, and reduce the amount of wind and debris entering the eyes. Those who don't ride with a windshield particularly need an effective seal to prevent excessive tears, or the opposite, dry eyes.

You can read Wiley-X's full patent here...
http://www.patentstorm.us/patents/6062688-description.html

Via Dry Eye Digest

Labels: Lawsuits, Motorcycle Riding Glasses, Panoptx, Sunglasses, Wiley-X

Last Summer one evening, Roy David Yarborough was killed after colliding his motorcycle with a cow that had wandered on to the roadway, just outside of Tucson, AZ.

His widow, Angelica Yarborough, filed a lawsuit against Santa Cruz County, arguing that the cow was able to enter the roadway because of a downed fence.

Now, county officials are arguing on who owns the fence. Apparently, a local rancher (not the one who owns the cow) reported the downed fence to county officials before. But nothing happened.

Various ranchers claim that the county owns the fence, based on a grant from the State back in 1948. The county argues that there are no records of this. However, the county went ahead and fixed the fence last September.

Meanwhile, the county is having its insurance company investigate liability.

Labels: Arizona Motorcycle Deaths, Lawsuits

S&S Cycle, of Viola, WI, was named in a lawsuit by Harley Davidson claiming infringment of patents and trademarks. According to a press release by S&S Cycle:

S&S has reviewed the issues raised in Harley-Davidson's complaint and believes they are without legal basis. S&S respects the intellectual property rights of others and the S&S products at issue in this lawsuit were the result of S&S's own engineering designs. S&S does not have any connection to Delkron in this action and does not believe that Harley-Davidson had any basis to name them and Delkron in the same lawsuit.

Labels: Harley Davidson, Lawsuits, S and S Cycles