Traxxas sending cease and desist letters to aftermarket companies then backing off.

[K-TOWN-KITT]

On April 3rd Traxxas sent out cease and desist letters to some aftermarket companies for trademark infringement. Traxxas said these companies can not say their parts are made for say the Traxxas Slash, T-Maxx, etc. Then on April 12th Traxxas canceled orders for copyright infringement after some backlash and put out these guidelines.

https://traxxas.com/traxxas-trademark-guidelines

I have to say I am not a huge traxxas fan but I have enjoyed some of their models over the years. From the T-Maxx trucks all the way back to the Hawks and Eagles in the 80's and even then I wished there were upgrades available because those trucks were crap. I remember how frustrating it was to keep my Hawk running. I must of changed the chassis three times after it cracked in the rear not to mention how many times I had to change the outdrives. To be fair, I did have a twister motor in the truck. Not the doo doo stock 540. For a long time Traxxas sold decent rc's that had usual parts breaking with little or no upgrades, only OEM replacement parts. Thank god there were some aftermarket parts through other companies for some of these rc's. We all know that after breaking an arm or two, you buy a pair or set of RPM arms or when you bend up some turnbuckles, you bought Technacraft. If it were not for aftermarket companies and their parts some people may have lost interest in the hobby and Traxxas. But now that Traxxas is on top of the heap and sells aftermarket parts, they don't want other companies making parts for their rc's or is it that other companies make better parts for their rc's than they do. Shame on you Traxxas.

[aip47-2008]

Really Rich coming from a company that stole more ideas and designs than anyone!

[TRX-1-3]

[RC10th]

I think I'll put tape over the Traxxas logos on my box art SRT to avoid promoting traxxas when racing it in the vintage scene.

[RCveteran]

Business is ruthless. If I took a stand against any company that used lawyers and size to their advantage I'd not be able to consume or own anything at this point. Hate the game, not the player so to speak.

[juicedcoupe]

From what I read, this seems to have been centered around people using the Traxxas name and product names in their URL's.

Since using those names in the URL will promote more web hits, it's the same as using someone else's name to promote your business.

So, while I think its a bit of a low blow, I can understand it at some level.

[GoMachV]

The understanding it part is the key. Previously they wouldn't tell you why, or what to change to comply. Most of us don't keep a lawyer on retainer to have them look into it.

[XLR8]

I wasn't sure what had happened so I found this video a few days ago. I reckon this the guy does a very good job explaining the issue to those of us who aren't attorneys.

Anyway, it's old news now but you might find this interesting.

[TRX-1-3]

TRAXXAS VS. MAX HEADROOM OVER "MAX" BRANDING!

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laugh-haha.gif (1.78 MiB) Viewed 1318 times

GTFOH
Gimme a Break!

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tumblr_mefvg318Z51qmsjj3o1_400.gif (925.1 KiB) Viewed 1318 times

[Mark Westerfield]

It's pretty clear how they want their brand and Logo used actually and makes sense.

RPM can absolutely make aftermarket parts for Traxxas products.

RPM can't use the Traxxas logos on their packaging.

It has to be clear that it is a product made by RPM and is not made by Traxxas.

[Lowgear]

This topic reminded me of when Tamiya went after people for reproductions: https://www.rc10talk.com/viewtopic.php?f=8&t=23744

GTFOH
Gimme a Break!

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I haven't seen anyone bring up that show in ages! I used to love watching it as a kid. I also had a personal running gag that when one of my parents would say to me "Gimme a Break!" I'd respond "With Nell Carter?" I'd then proceed to tell them what time it aired. They never found it funny...

[terry.sc]

It's pretty clear how they want their brand and Logo used actually and makes sense.

RPM can absolutely make aftermarket parts for Traxxas products.

RPM can't use the Traxxas logos on their packaging.

It has to be clear that it is a product made by RPM and is not made by Traxxas.

No one was using Traxxas's logo on anything, none of the companies were pretending the parts were from Traxxas. A lot of the products had their own manufacturers logos on them.

They didn't even have to use the Traxxas name either. Describing an upgrade diff cover as a "TRX4M diff cover" and using trx4m in the url for the page is what got CCXRCs site closed down. Even describing a diff cover as "for the TRX4M" is unacceptable for Traxxas unless you put the manufacturers name in the description. Until the closing of these websites Traxxas hasn't had any guidelines on what is acceptable to them in describing compatible products, nor have they had problems with how they were described as long as they didn't pretend they were genuine Traxxas parts. In the video above I think Francis is right, Traxxas has gone down the upgrade parts route and is attacking it's rivals in the upgrade market by suing them as that's standard practice from Traxxas.
The backlash they have received is why they have now produced a guide to naming and describing third party upgrades, because these small shops now have a larger social media presence and everyone now knows what Traxaxs have done. It has also made all their other anti competitive business practices affecting hobby shops become more widely known.

If any other manufacturer has a problem they just contact the shop owners, youtubers (the rcsaylors described a cheap rc car as looking like a mini Traxxas and Traxxas got youtube to give them a copyright strike) or whatever and get the problem fixed quietly and amicably. Traxxas didn't take the easy option of contacting the site owners and asking them to fix their listings either, but went directly to the website hosts instead so the first most of the shop owners knew about it was when their websites went down.

Using your example of RPM, this link
https://www.rpmrcproducts.com/shop/a-arms/rear-a-arms/associated-sc8-rc8-rear-a-arms/
would get the whole site closed down if it was for a Traxxas car.
1. the url is /associated-sc8-rc8-rear-a-arms/, not either a random link or rpm-arms-for-sc8
2. the title of the product is "Associated SC8 / RC8 Rear A-arms"
3. the quick note says "– replace stock Associated #89027"

It isn't until you scroll down the page that the main description tells you they are RPM arms. Traxxas's lawyers would use all three points as reasons to sue or to close the site.


I've never been a fan of Traxxas because of their shoddy business practices, the company would rather sue rivals than produce better products than them.

[terry.sc]

This topic reminded me of when Tamiya went after people for reproductions: https://www.rc10talk.com/viewtopic.php?f=8&t=23744

The Tamiya problem was more due to the fact the sticker sets and manuals had other manufacturers logos all over them, and was more to do with Tamiya not wanting to get sued by all these companies whose logos had been used without permission. As they were 'Tamiya' sticker sheets it would have been Tamiya they went after. That's why all Tamiyas re-release stickers have fake logos on them. There's also the fact the website is called Tamiyaclub, so any corporate lawyer would presume it is part of Tamiya itself and argue that if Tamiyaclub wasn't part of Tamiya why were they allowed to use their name.

MCI only gets away with it by being a tiny business that doesn't get on their radar, has no connection to bigger businesses and has quite a few deliberate spelling mistakes in the listings so they aren't picked up by web crawlers.

[juicedcoupe]

Using RPM is probably a bad example. A company as old as RPM probably has their "ducks in a row" better than a newcomer.

It is also likely that RPM has permissions (paid or otherwise) for the use of the Traxxas (and other) names.

And let's be honest, having RPM products associated with yours is a good thing. RPM making products for your vehicle is kinda like being accepted into the club. "Joe's RC" doesn't have that.

[GoMachV]

If they went after HBO Max then I'm pretty sure they would have no problem going after anyone for any reason. Polar opposite companies with nothing in common INCLUDING the name Max/Maxx. How could anyone be looking for a Tmaxx part and end up buying a one year subscription to HBO thinking Traxxas made it. Come on. Anyone that supports this company and their way has never owned a small business. The few parts we make for them are mostly new old stock and for vintage rigs, I'll never waste my time and effort developing another piece for their garbage company. Traxxas quit being good for the hobby a long time ago.