RipTide Sports Inc. is not associated with the Ride Riptide electric skateboard

Generally speaking, trademark law attempts to prevent ā€œrisk of confusionā€ between 2 sources of products. Here, weā€™re beyond that, there are actual cases of people who have confused the 2. So on itā€™s face alone, you have a good case. @Alphamail, dm me if you want to chat, Iā€™ll steer you in the right direction.

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This is some serious bullshit. Just the other day I was reminded about the Riptide R1 and thought it was weird that Riptide Sports (the real one) would be selling a cheap Chinese electric skateboard. Seemed kind of out of place for an established, legitimate company that specializes in high quality urethane parts. And now I know why. ā€œRide Riptideā€ is a joke, and they seem to be purposefully misrepresenting themselves and misleading people into thinking they are associated with the original company ā€œRiptide Sportsā€ (who we all know and love). Thatā€™s fucking shameful and wrong. And theyā€™re the same guys that make Shredlights?! WTF is that about? This sounds way too much like that human excrement Alextech trying to make some scammy AATorque Systems, knowing people could get it confused with Torqueboards.

@Alphamail, Iā€™m sorry you have to deal with this, but I think you need to bring the giant lawyer hammer down on these fools. This is way too blatant and confusing. Your hard work and reputation to the unknowing consumer could be on the line. Hell, they even have a nice little wave line on their board that looks like a regurgitation of the lines in your logo. And if these are the Shredlights guys behind this, I know whoā€™s getting boycotted and blacklisted in my book. Disgusting.

/rant

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Whooda thunk the dudes behind selling cheap imported leds for 1 million % markupā€¦oh but they last THREE whole hours

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At least that product had an original name. :roll_eyes: They could have used their own brand name and called it a Shred Board or something. Makes more sense than a Riptide. Or Riptide ā€œEliteā€ (taking another page from Alextech?) :nauseated_face:

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Damnā€¦ That sucksā€¦

They couldnā€™t just choose another name! There are tons of names out there.

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so I did a similar dumb thing recently plugged 42v charger into a 7s2p (24v) it took a charge, seemed to take forever to complete (didnā€™t charge just stopped after several hours) BUT it didnā€™t catch fire wasnā€™t even hot and it looks like I killed the BMS (I think still to investigate) I kinda assumed that this is what to expect - seems I was rather lucky (a fire like that would have destroyed my deckstack :open_mouth:)

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I just want to say that although both companies use a common name which is deceiving to the uneducated consumer. I am able to distinguish between the two companies by insignia and font styling to know the difference one specializes in polyurethane bushing and the other is just another company providing an electric skateboard trying to be different, but the parts seem to be from China if they can sell it for the price they can.

Official statements clear any confusion.

Right now it boils down to the use of the name ā€œRiptideā€, not the logos. And since both are considered selling ā€œskateboard goodsā€ or ā€œsporting goodsā€, it may be considered in a court of law that there is intent to cause consumer confusion. And that would be considered ā€œtrademark infringementā€. However, if they were in different markets, as defined by the law, then itā€™d be fine.

For me, the biggest gripe I have is that Ride Riptide refuses to mediate the situation, and itā€™s obvious they know what theyā€™re doing and donā€™t care. And yes, an official statement would clear things up and get them out of a hole.

But thereā€™s a problem Iā€™ve noticed after perusing their websiteā€¦and it doesnā€™t look good. They are actually marketing themselves not as Ride Riptide, but as Riptide Electric Skateboards or Riptide Electric. They are introducing themselves to the press and the public as Riptide Electric. Heck, if one hovers their mouse cursor over the top left corner ā€˜Riptideā€™ logo on their website, a pop-up window will say ā€˜Riptide Electric Skateboardā€™. They only bothered to change the website address to ā€˜rideriptideā€™ and the subsequent email addresses to said website, but still call themselves ā€˜Riptide Electricā€™.

And yes, all their boards are assembled in China. They claim that the board is a mix of off-the-shelf and custom parts, but itā€™s obvious that the only custom part is putting a logo onto an off-the-shelf enclosure.

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I am glad to finally see this addressed. Maybe this community help prevent this stuff and correct itā€¦

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@Alphamail I always wondered about this, thanks for letting all of us know about the issue.

If both companies filed articles of organization in the same state thereā€™s a process to mitigate infringement on market space with the same branding through the state. Call CAā€™s Secretary of State office and explain. If both companies honestly presented themselves in the incorporation phase the state should have noted the similar name and market and denied the latter applicant. You might not even need a trademark battle; the state can handle it without lawyers.

check out: https://llcbizfile.sos.ca.gov for information on CA state filings.

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I just toned down the original post a bit and want everyone to know that we are in talks to correct or at least minimize any confusion this situation is causing.

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Cooperation is always better than drama, I hope you guys can iron it out. I noticed a bunch of posts flying around Facebook about it and I believe awareness is importantā€¦

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Any of the links handy?

When forming our company the lawyers brought up the similarities with HYPERION SYSTEMS (software) different industries Hyper Ion systems llc (esk8 supplies)

And Iā€™m with most of you. I thought they where With you guys. I knew the guy from shred lights had something to do with it. How interesting

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Iā€™m not sure if you would be interested in this but maybe you could form some sort of partnership. You guys (RipeTide sports) sell bushing to Ride RipeTide and have them disclaim on their website that you are not in fact the same company but one that is working together. That way they can improve their board and you get promotion and will not be seen as the same company.

Just a thought

I think this is a terrible idea, sorry pat, not sorry.

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Ok, not partnerships but supplier I guess is more what I meant

& then the confusion would rain supremeā€¦ :exploding_head:

The rip off merchants could use the real RipTides name, logoā€¦ every thing. What is in it for them? It would be like RipTide were endorsing the brand and the product. What happens then if a few more rip off boards go up in flames? :fire:

RipTide have what? 20 years of industry activity, sponsorship, support, brand building, American madeā€¦ all at risk.

The rip off merchants are basically just distributors for knock off Chinese shit that RipTide is not interested in being associated with.

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I gotta admit that this confused me a lot too. I wondered why they would use the name rip tide when its been used so many times before.

its pretty far from original.

but having said that, the guys from shredlights are great and original guys, who were probably looking for an affordable e-sk8 to get their product out. I donā€™t believe they were trying to rip anyone off or fool anyone.

I got to admit I never heard of ā€œrip tide sportsā€ before reading on this forum and I knew of at least 2 other businesses using the Rip Tide term. its a pretty common term with regards to surfing so I guess that why a lot of people use it.

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Culturally inappropriate much? :thinking: not sure I should :grin: or :joy:

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