Trail WhippAss

leadership@TrailWhippAss.com

May 20, 2014

!
Dear Dashing Whippets Running Team,

We write to you today to respond to the Cease and desist letter you sent us on
March 12th of 2014 via Electronic Mail.

We wanted to thank you for the first paragraph of your letter which notified us that
The Dashing Whippets Running Team has been using that name Dashing
Whippets since 2009, specifically in connection with running and running related
events. We were already aware of this, but it was good to be reminded of it.

In your second paragraph you called us the Trail WhippAss Racing Team. We
just wanted to correct you and let you know that our name is simply Trail
WhippAss. We believe that if we were to add the Racing Team to our name it
would have more of a competitive tone, and we encourage our members to enjoy
the outdoors at any pace they see fit. Also if we were to add Racing Team to our
name it probably would be hard to fit onto swag. Did we mention, we love swag!
So you can just call us Trail WhippAss or since you seem to like to abbreviate you
also can call us T.W.A (Dont mistake us with the now bankrupt airline)

You mention that Trail WhippAss is very similar to Dashing Whippets Running
Team because there are 2 Ps in both Whippets & WhippAss which might
confuse people that we are somehow affiliated with you. Surely if we called our
selves Dashing Whippets Trail Running Team we would fully agree with you, but
that is not the case. We believe that there is a significant difference between the
names Trail WhippAss and Dashing Whippets that anybody who is confused
probably should get an eye exam as they probably have some sort of problem
leading to very blurry vision.

You seem overly concerned not with the word trail but with the word
WhippAss and you ask (actually you demand) that we withdraw, cancel, delete,
or change any names, domain names, trademark applications, or trademark
registrations for or including WhippAss We will not comply with this.
A Whippet is a dog that is quite often raced and of an athletic nature, so its quite
common to be used in team names. Here is a list of just a few athletic running
groups with the name Whippet.

The Minden Whippets (Compete in Cross Country & Track in Minden, NE)

The Okeene Whippets (Compete in Cross Country & Track in Okeene, OK)

The Shelby Whippets (Compete in Cross Country & Track in Shelby, OH)

The Kosciusko Whippets (Compete in Cross Country & Track in Kosciusko, MS)

The Windham Whippets (Compete in Cross Country & Track in Willimantic, CT)

The Downington West Whippets (Compete in Cross Country & Track in

Downington, FL)

The Washtenaw Whippets (Compete in Cross Country & Track in Bloomfield, MI)

The Frisco City Whippets (Compete in Cross Country & Track in Frisco City, AL)

The Southern Reynolds Whippets (Compete in Cross Country & Track in Ellington,
MO)

The Varnum Whippets (Compete in Cross Country & Track in Seminole, MO)

The Whitewater Whippets (Compete in Cross Country & Track in Whitewater, WI)

The Wesley College Whippets (Competed in Track & Cross Country until 1950s
this is what they were known by. A fun fact we didnt know until we googled
Whippet)

The point is, Whippet (which isnt even our name!) is not a word that is
trademarked to any one specific club or group of people when it comes to
organizing in a club and often running, and if that is the case then surely a word
(WhippAss) that is different should not even be an issue.
Furthermore, we would like to remind you that trail/mountain running & road
running are two different sports. Even in the professional sports world teams share
the same name. You dont see the Arizona Cardinals suing the St. Louis Cardinals,
or the Carolina Panthers suing the Florida Panthers, or the San Fransico Giants
suing the New York Giants, or the Texas Rangers suing the New York Rangers, or
the Sacramento Kings suing the Los Angeles Kings. Just think about that for a
moment, now think about the fact that Trail WhippAss and Dashing Whippet
Running Team are significantly different.

And assuming for a moment (lets just dream) you have exclusive use of the word
Whippet and also any word that starts with a W and has two Ps in it then you
also would have exclusive use to the following words:

wapped
wappenschawing
wappenschawings
wapping
whapped
whapper
whappers
whapping
whipped
whipper
whippers
whippersnapper
whippersnappers
whippier
whippiest
whipping
whippings
whippletree
whippletrees
whippoorwill
whippoorwills
whippy
whopped
whopper
whoppers
whopping
wiretapped
wiretapper
wiretappers
wiretapping
woodchopper
woodchoppers
worshipped
worshipper
worshippers
worshipping
wrapped
wrapper
wrappers
wrapping
wrappings

Lets snap out of that dream for a moment, because that is not how trademarks
work! Would you really threaten us with lawsuit over the name Trail Whippletree,
or Trail Whippersnappers or Trail Whoppers, or Trail Woodchoppers.?

We dont think so. Therefore we humbly ask (we would never demand) that you
retract the Cease & Desist letter that you sent us on March 12th.

We also would like to suggest that in fairness to the few members that enjoy both
of our groups we act civil and supportive of our runners and put our differences
aside. We all love running! How about we run rather than threaten each other! In
that spirit we ask (again we would never demand) that you shake our hand and
move on as co-existing groups that support their runners.
Furthermore we propose a declaration of co-existing friendship. We dont know
exactly what that means, but we mean that it doesnt mean bickering, and it
doesnt mean legal threats. What it does entail is supporting and cheering on our
runners on the trails, on the roads, on the treadmills or wherever else they choose
to run.

In the spirit of co-existing should you choose to retract the Cease and Desist
letter today and agree to our said declaration of co-existing we will take the
money that we otherwise would have spent having a lawyer draft up this letter (lets
estimate it at $1,000) and we will donate it to your Youth Sneaker Drive in 2014. In
the spirit of haste well reduce the amount of our donation by 25% every day. This
has gone on long enough, its time to be friendly and cordial and support the
runners that participate in both of our two groups.

Please understand that Trail WhippAss is required (morally) to send this type of
communication to you to protect the runners who could get caught in the middle
should you choose to escalate matters further.

Sincerely yours,

Trail WhippAss Leadership