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Comment by alphag | Hacker News Reader

Kuhl.com has been doing the same thing. Backcountry.com and Kuhl.com are going after the small guy over nonsense. Both Utah based companies too...

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Well Utah is also the place where SCO Group was (is?); this was the company that tried to claim they owned Linux and insisted on selling licenses to it and suing companies that used Linux without buying one.

Who has Kuhl been going after? It's a unique spelling so surely people wouldn't be inadvertently infringing on it?

A quick web search shows that they sued Jagermeister and L.L. Bean...

* https://www.snewsnet.com/news/kuhl-sues-jagermeister-tradema...

* https://www.snewsnet.com/news/kuhl-sues-llbean

You will also find many more filed under their corporate name: Alfwear

You're right. A bicycle company, Kulkote fabrics (also happens to be in Utah, which is interesting), others?

Okay yeah these lawsuits are really quite the stretch in claiming infringement.

It's not a unique spelling. It is the word "cool" in German. Many companies use it because of this. Similar story to Backcountry. Using a generic word and trademarking it and thinking they own it. This is hypocritical as the mission statement for the outside community as they all opt for public access, shared access, and community except when it affects their wallets.

It is a unique word in English, and even there not a word that would be naturally used to describe clothing.

The founder of kuhl seems to be engaging in really ridiculous lawsuits though.

But are they really based in Utah, or just have their paperwork on file there because it made the most sense to file there? I was given the several options including Utah and Delaware as a place to file my company. Not sure what the implication you're making is.

They are based and ran out of Park City, UT, so it's more than just a paper relationship.

We certainly have our fair share of less-than-scrupulous companies here.

Backcountry and their sister site Competitive Cyclist are actually physically based in Utah, including their customer service reps.

No, they are utah based. Utah has a very specific mindset. Its neither better not worse, but distinct from the nation, and neighboring states, in a way hard to pin down. Yes, tons of mormons play a large factor, but does not encompass the whole distinction. Not every implication is nuanced or implying something large, often we just see something is going on beyond the normal noise.

I wanted to reply and add on to this, but you're already getting downvoted. Utah is a very strange place to do business, I'd almost argue it as sort of isolationist with a love for lawyers, so this makes complete sense.

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