Specialized’s CEO apologizes to Café Roubaix Bicycle Studio owner
On the evening of Dec. 10, Specialized founder and CEO Mike Sinyard flew to Calgary. The next day he had a morning meeting with Dan Richter, the owner of Café Roubaix Bicycle Studio. Over breakfast the next morning, the two discussed the conflict that started last week when Sinyard’s company indicated that it would take legal action against the Cochrane, Alta., shop owner for copyright infringement. The meeting was a success. In a video statement, Richter said the two came to a “great conclusion for all parties.”
“I just want to say a big apology for this thing that got completely out of line,” Sinyard said in the video. “I take full responsibility for it, and what’s most important, is [that I] withdraw any claim. You can proceed as you like.”
Sinyard was quite conciliatory. He stressed that he felt bad that his company came after Richter. Sinyard explained that the affair started as a mere bureaucratic function. His company has “outside attorneys” who monitor trademarks, including “Roubaix,” a name Specialized has control over for its endurance road bike. Sinyard explained that it was likely Richter’s handmade wheels, which carry the name “Café Roubaix” on their rims, that probably set off the series of events.
“I started in the same way you did, Dan,” said Sinyard. “So, I can relate and I still feel that way.”
Richter accepted Sinyard’s apology and the two shared a heartfelt handshake and hug.
Update
At 9:30 p.m. PST, Sinyard released the following statement:
I Screwed up, and I own it
I would like to apologize and let everyone know I realize I handled this situation wrong from the start and I’m very sorry for that. As many of you have probably already seen by now, I went up to Café Roubaix to meet with Dan in person to apologize and make good with him. Café Roubaix will continue on with its name. The video is up on Café Roubaix’s Facebook page. Dan is the real deal, after meeting him I realize this and am embarrassed by how ridiculous this is. What happened was wrong. There are no excuses but I do feel like I owe it to you all to explain how we found ourselves in this situation, the lessons we’ve learned from it and, most importantly, how it will change the way we do things moving forward.
Over the past few years, we’ve seen a massive spike in counterfeit products, and most of the riders have no idea these products are fake, which is extremely dangerous because the risk of failure on these untested products is extremely high. In one instance, the entire head tube and fork sheared off a counterfeit Tarmac, causing the rider who had no idea he was not on a genuine Specialized product to faceplant and destroy his shoulder. To give you an idea of how much this issue has blown up, 10 Specialized employees hunt fake products across 30 major e-commerce platforms, we’ve identified over 5,000 listings, worth US$11,000,000 in counterfeit goods since Jan. 1 of this year alone. This is about double what it was last year. Due to this we have recently gone after IP and trademark issues more aggressively in the interest of protecting the safety of riders and the livelihood of our dealers and their hard-working employees. See the attached picture to understand how dangerous fake goods are.
In the deal with Café Roubaix, the wheels were the red flag that got the attention of our outside attorney’s who were already sort of on red alert for anything that pops up, although Café Roubaix wasn’t in the same camp as the counterfeiters, they still got caught in the crossfire. There is so much activity with infringers that it’s overwhelming and I don’t see them all. The first I heard of it was Saturday morning and by Monday the thing went huge. But still, that was my fault, which is why I’m so embarrassed. I should have called Dan immediately.
I heard you and you can rest assured I took it to heart. I realize now that we went too far with this aggressive approach and as a result and in some cases we hurt the local bikes shops and small businesses we wanted to protect. As a result we’re going to take a much closer look at all pending and future intellectual property and trademark issues, making sure to only pursue those that present a clear and obvious danger. The letter on Epix Gear was issued before the Café Roubaix story broke and has since been pulled.
I handled this very poorly and I own full responsibility. Dan at Café Roubaix and I have become friends and he’s happy with the solution. I hope you too accept my sincere apology. Like you all, I’m passionate about cycling and want to do everything possible to grow the activity we all love.
Sincerely,
-Mike Sinyard
Founder
