RMB Must Change Slayer Name

We caught wind of rumour about this last week, but waited until it was confirmed by Rocky Mountain today before we spread the news. It’s now official that Rocky Mountain has been forced by Sony Music Entertainment to cease and desist the selling of bikes under the Slayer model name due to trademark conflict with Slayer, the iconic metal band. 

  The iconic Slayer model will soon be re-chistened. Share your thoughts for a new name on the boards here…

“We received a phone call from a Sony lawyer a last month and we admittedly brushed it off, thinking it was ridiculous”, commented Rocky Mountain’s marketing manager, Pete Roggeman. “ Then last week we received an official cease and desist letter. We contacted our lawyers and after careful evaluation, we’ve been advised that despite the fact we have a good case, the cost of battling a huge corporation like Sony will simply be too much for Rocky Mountain both in dollars and company resources. It’s a real shame that it’s come to this.”

  Wade Simmons was philosphical when he heard the news. He was quoted saying “a Slayer by any other name rides just as sweet!” Photo ~ Colin Meagher

One of the most peculiar aspects of this case is the timing, as Rocky Mountain has been making bikes with the Slayer name since 2001 when it was one of the first “all mountain” bikes on the market. Roggeman continues, “We don’t really know why Sony has picked now to come after us. We’ve been making Slayers for a decade now, albeit with the SXC designation for the last five years, but they’re Slayers nonetheless. Our only guess is that all the hype and media reviews of the new 2011 Slayer have increased the saturation of the bike on the internet. We’re guessing that new Slayer content must have triggered some agent’s or lawyer’s RSS feed or come up in a Google search.” 

  This late in the production cycle Rocky Mountain Bicycles is going to have to physically remove the Slayer name from every frame before it heads to dealers. Peter Creighton has offered his highly advanced dremel skills to get the work done. Photo ~ Colin Meagher

This isn’t the first time Rocky Mountain has found itself on the receiving end of a cease and desist letter. In 1999, Cannondale sued them for using the term ‘Freeride’. In response and instead of fighting it in court, Rocky Mountain simply changed their moniker to Froride and never looked back. So is Rocky going to change the Slayer to Sloyer?  Roggeman says, “We aren’t sure what we’re going to name the bike. All we know right now is that we can’t sell or market the bike as Slayer. Those that have already bought a 2011 Slayer are the lucky ones. We’re going to have to strip a lot of Slayer decaled frames and repaint them with a new name.”

What should Rocky call their 6” all mountain bike? Sound off and suggest a new name here…