Bass Pro Shop Update

The owner of BPS actually drove from Ft. Myers to the shop they were harassing. He stated he had no idea they were harassing him over his logo. He apologized and said the would reimburse him for any legal expenses.

Here is a quote from www.tbo.com

Kelly Morris, owner of a Valrico store specializing in outdoors apparel, had a surprise resolution to his costly legal battle with retail giant Bass Pro Shops on Saturday. The company's founder and owner, Johnny Morris, showed up in Morris' Simple Life Outfitters store to apologize for Bass Pro's tactics over the local store's logo.

Kelly Morris said he was promised Bass Pro would drop its legal challenge on Monday and would refund the $1,500 he has spent contesting Bass Pro's contention his store's logo was trademark infringement.

"He told me he was on a fishing trip in Fort Myers with his wife when he heard about what was going on," Kelly Morris said. "They drove up and walked right into my store and asked for me. He said, 'My name is Johnny Morris.' I said, 'Are you the Johnny Morris from Bass Pro Shops,' and he said he was.

"He said he wasn't aware of what was going on, but he would stop it on Monday morning. He apologized and said that's not the way he wants to do business. That gave me a lot of respect for him, to be honest with you. I respect any man who would drive all that way to admit he was wrong."

Good for Johnny Morris to do the right thing.

Glad it worked out for your folks. Maybe Mr. Morris just went fishing and came back with a better outlook on life in general.

Cool ending!

This outcome is simply outstanding !

It reminds poor old DonDiego of an earlier Trademark Lawsuit "settled" by Herb Kelleher, co-founder of Southwest Airlines:

In March 1992, shortly after Southwest started using the "Just Plane Smart" motto, Stevens Aviation, who had been using "Plane Smart" for their motto, threatened a trademark lawsuit.

Instead of a lawsuit, the CEOs for both companies staged an arm wrestling match. Held at the now demolished Dallas Sportatorium (the famed wrestling facility) and set for two out of three rounds, the loser of each round was to pay $5,000 to the charity of their choice, with the winner gaining the use of the trademarked phrase. A promotional video was created showing the CEOs "training" for the bout (with CEO Herb Kelleher being helped up during a sit up where a cigarette and glass of whiskey (Wild Turkey 101) was waiting) and distributed among the employees and as a video press release along with the video of the match itself. Herb Kelleher lost the match for Southwest, with Stevens Aviation winning the rights to the phrase0.

Kurt Herwald, CEO of Stevens Aviation, immediately granted the use of "Just Plane Smart" to Southwest Airlines. The net result was both companies having use of the trademark, $15,000 going to charity and good publicity for both companies.

Ref: wikipedia

Wow a businessman with class.Truely a lost art now a days.

Glad to hear there are a few good people still trying to do the right thing in this world!

Thanks for posting this positive story!

The county I live in has been doing everything imaginable to lure a BPS to build a 140,000 square foot store here. There is a lot of concern, rightfully so, from all of the smaller shops in the area. There are a lot of independent outdoor suppliers here in Florida.

There CEO doing the right thing will go a long way with the community.

On a bit of a personal opinion,I've been trying to shop at the more local smaller stores. We got a little neighborhood ace hardware couple years ago and my freinds and I were ecstatic, convenient and mom and pop owned. I don't mind paying an extra quarter or whatever for something. I absolutely cannot stand wal-mart and they aren't even the cheapest like everyone thinks, now they're just programmed that way.

J