This is ridiculous. Booo DW!

[sonicGriff]

WOODSTOCK - A New Brunswick businessman and long-time racing fan has been forced to change the name of his tiny memorabilia shop under the threat of a lawsuit by NASCAR legend Darrell Waltrip.

Randy Nicholson, Woodstock businessman, has been accused of infringing on a trademark by NASCAR legend Darrell Waltrip.

Randy Nicholson, who has sold NASCAR merchandise in Woodstock since 2001, has been accused of infringing on a trademark that wasn't registered by Waltrip until four years after Nicholson's store was established.

Borrowing from a catchphrase issued by the Fox Sports commentator at the start of every race, Nicholson initially called his business Boogity Boogity Racing, and then later changed the name to Boogity Sportswear.

On Friday, he received a cease-and-desist letter from an Ontario law firm representing Waltrip, a former Winston Cup champion who says, "Boogity, boogity, boogity, let's go racin', boys" each time the green flag drops. Waltrip registered the catch phrase as a trademark in Canada on Oct. 31, 2005.

"My first instinct was that I was going to fight (him), but I don't have the means,'' Nicholson said Tuesday as he stood behind the counter in his store, which also sells hockey, wrestling and ultimate fighting souvenirs. "I am in no position to fight Darrell Waltrip. He has deeper pockets than I do.

"I'm just a Carleton County boy."

Nicholson said he registered his business with the federal government in 2001, and paid more than $1,200 to cover the cost of a search that was conducted to ensure the name wasn't being used in Canada by anyone else.

At one point, he also operated stores under the Boogity banner in Moncton and Saint John, but he never received a complaint until last week, when a sheriff delivered a letter from MBM, an intellectual property legal group in Ottawa, sent on Waltrip's behalf.

"From a trademark point of view, he is infringing Darrell Waltrip's registered Canadian trademark,'' Scott Miller, the head of the litigation group at MBM, said Tuesday. "Taking intellectual property without permission is as reprehensible as taking anything else."

Nicholson argues that he has never infringed on Waltrip's rights. He says he has never sold anything that carried Waltrip's trademark, and the few Boogity-related items he sold bore a logo that he developed on his own.

"I really don't understand this,'' Nicholson said. "It is not like I was making money off of Darrell Waltrip's name. It's a word for goodness sakes- 'boogity' - and I am not even sure it is a real word. It's a redneck word.

"If I had a million bucks I'd be nose to nose with him."

Nicholson has until next Tuesday to wipe his shop clean of the word "boogity" and has already taken down his signs. Until he comes up with something better, he will call his business R&B Embroidery, to accentuate the fact that he does printing and embroidery and manufactures vinyl signs.

"I never dreamed in a million years that something like this could ever happen,'' he said. "I've been open for eight years, but now I have had to take my signs down, and people driving past think I am closed.

"I used to like Darrell Waltrip, but I think if I had him here now, I'd tear out his wind pipe."

Nicholson said it will cost him between $5,000 and $8,000 to register a new name, put up signs, change his business cards and letterhead, order new cheques, change the way his phone is listed, and set up a new website.

"Basically, it stinks to be me right now," Nicholson said. "All I can do is come up with another name and pay all of the fees - and then cross my fingers and hope nobody else wants it eight years from now."

Even if he is no longer keen on Darrell Waltrip, Nicholson remains a NASCAR fan.

The words "I'm not speeding, I'm qualifying,'' are written at the top of his front door, "I'm not tailgating, I am drafting" are written at the bottom.

In a display case, he still sells die-cast cars, including replicas of models driven by Dale Earnhardt Jr., Tony Stewart, Bobby Labonte, Sterling Marlin and Michael Waltrip, who is Darrell's younger brother.

"I told my lawyer that when he sends a letter to Darrell Waltrip's law firm telling them I have agreed to comply, at the bottom I also want him to tell them they can go pound sand,'' Nicholson said. "What this boils down to is who has the most money. For Darrell Waltrip to be threatened by me, come on.

"It is a little much."

Link to article http://telegraphjournal.canadaeast.c...cle/779035&p=1

 

[sonicGriff]

Reponse by DW's slime ball lawyer:

"It's unfortunate to read the articles about Mr. Nicholson's store, as they do not tell the whole story", responded Van Colley, Darrell Waltrip's longtime Business Manager. "The truth is DW first came up with Boogity Boogity Boogity and then the name of the store appeared. "Mr. Nicholson only used Boogity as a result of DW's earlier use on FOX. In my opinion, it is not a coincidence that DW started his broadcasts with Boogity, Boogity, Boogity in March of 2002 and then 9 months later, with his business partner, Richard Poulin, that Mr. Nicholson incorporated a company called BOOGIDDY BOOGIDDY RACING INC on November 6, 2002. He then changed the corporate name to Boogity Boogity Boogity Racing Inc on March 3, 2003. That company was dissolved on July 25, 2008. Then the store operated under the name Boogity Sportswear. The shop went as far as applying for DW's trademark of Boogity, Boogity Boogity which was rejected in late 2007 by the Canadian Trademark Office. My point is there is no way Mr. Nicholson should be surprised about what has happened. It is odd that the shop filed for DW's trademark. Whether Mr. Nicholson is a small business owner or the owner of a large corporation is irrelevant to the matter. You simply can't take some one's legally trademarked intellectual property and attempt to profit from it. Common sense tells me that I can't simply throw up some golden arches in my front yard, hang a sign that says McDonalds on it and fire up my grill to attempt to sell some hamburgers simply because I want to. We appreciate Mr. Nicholson being a NASCAR fan and his selling of legally licensed NASCAR merchandise in his store. We also wish no ill will to Mr. Nicholson, despite his comment of wanting to "tear out DW's wind pipe." At the same time, I won't apologize for protecting DW's legal rights. We, like NASCAR, the drivers and teams in our sport fight this kind of thing all the time."

Funny thing, as posted in another forum I saw this, "Boogity, Boogity, Boogity" is lyrics in a "Barry Mann" song long before DW trademarked his phrase and therefore DW should be sued for using those lyrics.

 

[DannyM]

This whole thing is brought on by the lawyers. DW don't really care, but the lawyer would get tons of money in a lawsuit. By the way, I can remember an arca race, or somthing like that, when Hank Parker Jr. said boogity boogity boogity. Why don't they sue him? Hank Jr.'s got some money.

 

[John Gregorio]

Well, it doesn't matter who uses the name first, it's the person who trademarks and registers the name that counts. I could own a business called Orange PC for 30 years and then suddenly a company trademarks it and they now have all rights to that name. If you have something and want to keep it, always go the legal way and make sure you own it.

 

[MattSRD28]

2 things unrelated to the story:

1) If you are posting with material copy & pasted from another source, aka QUOTING, please use QUOTE TAGS. I'm getting sick of editing people's posts to include them. Like using basic grammar when writing a post, it doesn't take that much effort to include appropriate quote tags.

2) If there is a post that violates our Forum Rules, such as the inclusion of profanity, DO NOT POST A THANKS FOR THAT POST. Honestly, why encourage people to do something that will earn them an infraction and a possible vacation from the boards? What good is that going to do?

That is all.

 

[firecat318]

2 things unrelated to the story:

1) If you are posting with material copy & pasted from another source, aka QUOTING, please use QUOTE TAGS. I'm getting sick of editing people's posts to include them. Like using basic grammar when writing a post, it doesn't take that much effort to include appropriate quote tags.

2) If there is a post that violates our Forum Rules, such as the inclusion of profanity, DO NOT POST A THANKS FOR THAT POST. Honestly, why encourage people to do something that will earn them an infraction and a possible vacation from the boards? What good is that going to do?

That is all.

Just a question, why are you so concerned about profanity when 90% of us on here are adults anyways...

 

[John Gregorio]

Because we can have conversations without the need of profanity.

 

[timdub70]

Ray Stevens should sue too. He used "boogity, boogity" in his song "The Streak".

 

[sonicGriff]

Well, it doesn't matter who uses the name first, it's the person who trademarks and registers the name that counts. I could own a business called Orange PC for 30 years and then suddenly a company trademarks it and they now have all rights to that name. If you have something and want to keep it, always go the legal way and make sure you own it.

I understand that from a legal stand point but you would think that having your business name registered and licensed would be pretty much mean it is trademarked. I guess we know it's not but it should.

It's really exploiting a loop hole in the spirit of the law IMO, but I digress.

2 things unrelated to the story:

1) If you are posting with material copy & pasted from another source, aka QUOTING, please use QUOTE TAGS. I'm getting sick of editing people's posts to include them. Like using basic grammar when writing a post, it doesn't take that much effort to include appropriate quote tags.

2) If there is a post that violates our Forum Rules, such as the inclusion of profanity, DO NOT POST A THANKS FOR THAT POST. Honestly, why encourage people to do something that will earn them an infraction and a possible vacation from the boards? What good is that going to do?

That is all.

I'm sorry, I made a mistake. I posted using my iPhone.

I really wasn't trying to make your job so arduous and grueling. Your absolutely right though, it doesn't take much effort to include quotes tags.

I'm not sure where #2 fits into this thread but I will make sure I try and remember not to do that.

Thanks for such a polite and courteous reminder.

 

[MattSRD28]

Just a question, why are you so concerned about profanity when 90% of us on here are adults anyways...

It really has nothing to do with adults/kids, protecting kids from harm to their virgin ears, eyes, or any of that.

We believe that profanity is garbage that stinks up any environment, physical or one like this on the net, and we just don't want that. That's why it, and things like requiring basic grammar are part of our forum rules. It all has to do with creating and maintaining a level of quality, both in our NR2003 creations and our forum community, that reflects who we are and provides a place people can feel comfortable and can enjoy without having to hold their nose.

Now while we can't control the world or people in it, we can control our own establishment, and we take pride in the level of quality that is found here.

I really wasn't trying to make your job so arduous and grueling. Your absolutely right though, it doesn't take much effort to include quotes tags.

Thanks for such a polite and courteous reminder.

Is that a note of sarcasm I detect there?

My note wasn't directed solely at you so I hope you don't take it that way. That was a general notice to everyone, which is why it was posted in a public area. We do not engage in backhanded or cowardly non-directed criticisms here. If there's something that a particular member needs to be made aware of, it is handled, and handled privately.

EDIT: I have no idea why it says the above posted was edited by me. I have edited nothing in that post.

 

[TheEgg]

This whole thing is brought on by the lawyers. DW don't really care, but the lawyer would get tons of money in a lawsuit. By the way, I can remember an arca race, or somthing like that, when Hank Parker Jr. said boogity boogity boogity. Why don't they sue him? Hank Jr.'s got some money.

Thats what I thought. I hate lawyers and legal people. I bet DW doesn't even know anything about this. I want to hear what he has to say about this. If he was informed of this, he would probably say its ok for that guy to use that name. DW seems like a cool guy and I don't think it is in his character to go after someone with far less money who is just trying to make an honest living.

I'm not afraid of lawsuit threats and if this was me, I wouldn't be quick to jump. I would refuse to change the name until I here from DW himself, not someone speaking for him. Like I said, I bet he has no idea. If he really does want me to stop, I will, but first I will ask him why and what the heck is wrong with him.