Instead of … ? With a simple stroke of the pen and a click of the Send button, Arai Helmet can shake their customer base. The recent legal action is, unfortunately, not unique in the world of business, especially given our litigious society. Several other companies have committed similar errors of judgement. Some of them learn. Some do not. One comment I heard referred to an action by Harley Davidson. Someone who was giving away motorcycles, Harley Davidson motorcycles, but were using bar and shield without permission. Another mentioned an action by BMW against dealers and clubs using the BMW roundel without explicit permission. I don’t know if these really happened or what the facts surrounding the issues may have been. However, I also don’t doubt the possibility that they might have. There are a couple of main reasons why I wrote about this action and not others. The first is about timing. The second is about the internet. Each reason has relatives to lend support. As for timing, I am new to the world of motorcyles and did not know first hand of the other actions. Maybe I would have been equally incensed if I had been around when the news of them was first heard. But, maybe not. I was around for this one. As mentioned in the previous article, Arai Gone Awry?, there was also a book involved, The Cluetrain Manifesto. More precisely, it was the idea of communication the book discussed. I had just finished reading it, within the hour in fact. And, this action seemed so counter productive that the clash between the two could not be ignored, at least by me anyway. That leads us to the second main reason for my response, the internet. Global communication between individuals is possible like never before. Email, mailing lists and newsgroups allow for so many people to communicate so easily and to so many others at once, that the foundation of traditional marketing is being shaken. Marketing used to be a top down exercise in authority with company PR feeding everything to the consumer. Now, consumers themselves are affecting the intended results, adding their own slants and viewpoints to the corporate message. An action by a company is no longer hidden, visible only to the few directly affected. The click of the Send button that can start an action can now also start a reaction. The internet, the vast web that it is, is made up of links from one site to another, one page to another. In fact, that is how you came to be reading this article now. Yet, running against the grain, this action by Arai Helmet claims linking to be unacceptable and even illegal. A link that takes you to the site in question is a good thing, a credit to the internet web it helps to create. Some companies, like Amazon.com for example, have specific programs where they encourage you to be a part of their organization, to link to areas within their site from yours. As with most things, there are some real infringements. Some of these may come with deep linking, which may bypass some required validation controls. More commonly, there may be the use of content generated by another site, but appearing on an unrelated page. An example of this may be the use of stock market information or map generation without the appropriate credit or permission being given. In the example given in the prior article, this does not seem to be the case here. Legal action to protect a trademark is something I believe should be done. Without appropriate effort, the trademark may lose its value, becoming another phrase commonly used by many. It might even end up as a dictionary entry. However, it is all too easy to become overzealous in that protection. “Just in case we can win” is an insufficient reason to try. The internet is a new territory. It does not fit exactly into the mold of the prior era. While the differences may not be readily apparant to all, they do exist. Many companies need to change their approach to the new markets, learn how their consumers are now communicating. Those that can respond may find that it is not so bad after all. It might even give them an edge. (IANAL, “I am not a lawyer.” Any positions taken in this article are based on opinion and do not stem from a legal background or familiarity with the applicable laws. If you have specific legal questions, please consult with your attorney.) (All trademarks mentioned herein are the property of their respective owners.)