Sports Direct with humiliating control

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Records published by the Intellectual Property Office yesterday show Sports Direct own quite a lot of trademarks, including:

Rangers
Scope of trademark: organisation of sporting activities.
This property has not been licenced to the football club, or joint ventures like Rangers Retail Ltd.  Sports Direct own the rights to call a football team Rangers.

Rangers (again)
Scope: from clothing to trinkets and everything in between.
Owned by Sports Direct, licenced to Rangers Retail Ltd

Glasgow Rangers Football Club
Scope: clothes trinkets, etc.
Owned by Sports Direct, licenced to Rangers Retail Ltd

RFC, Broxi Bear, The Gers, Follow Follow, Ibrox, Rangers News, Rangers Travel and all the crests, badges and logos are all owned by Sports Direct and licenced to Rangers Retail Ltd, which is 76% owned by the Sports Direct group.

So if the club want to call themselves Rangers, or Glasgow Rangers, they need to cut a deal with Mike Ashley.  The most humiliating aspect of the whole thing is that the new board appeared to know nothing about this until the Intellectual Property Office published the details yesterday.  The lack of due diligence is breathtaking.

The only things Ashley seems to have ignored is that pejorative nickname they complain about so much, and the phrase Murray Park, although he has security over the training ground of that name.

We warned them repeatedly.  Ashley was in control and had the opportunity to ensure he got what he wanted before the EGM.  One of the richest men in Europe, he is a formidable opponent and known to be utterly ruthless.

You can’t bully him.  Better to recognise this reality and accept your subservient future than create a scenario where even another liquidation event would not free the ‘Rangers’ football brand from the ironclad yolk of a man you’ve made your enemy.

What have the lemmings done to themselves?  We were told Mike Ashley was a business man and he would acquiesce as this was just business.  In the history of business miscalculations this is up there with the guy at Pye who rejected The Beatles.

It’s all their own work, they can’t blame the SFA, SPL, SFL, Celtic, Her Majesty’s Revenue’, the BBC or Craig Whyte.  A recovery which would have been difficult enough is now completely and predictably wrecked.

Fancy a trip to Dublin for the Ireland-Scotland game in June?  There’s a bus leaving Glasgow with Ireland and Scotland (but all Celtic) fans.  Two nights in a Dublin hotel, travel and match ticket among the Ireland fans for £200.  Let me know if you’re interested, celticquicknews@gmail.com

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1,208 Comments

  1. Winning Captains and Tom

     

     

    My thoughts are with you and your families

     

     

    ——————————————————

     

    .enjoy your day Celts

     

     

    Go to work Celts

     

     

    Hail hail all

     

     

    :-)

  2. Melbourne Mick on

    Right guy’s

     

    so far we’ve got.

     

    bangers

     

    wangers

     

    clangers

     

    ringers, like that one

     

    rangs

     

    dangers

     

    arserang

     

    mr custard f.c

     

    govan cowboys

     

    the team formerly known as the huns

     

    veldwagters

     

    rangs

     

    sorry if i’ve missed anybody but i’m typing through

     

    double vision and an incredible thirst.

     

    H.H Mick

  3. TBJ says Wee Oscar Knox is in heaven with the angels on

    Surely the name change has a very obvious solution

     

     

    The people

  4. Bsr,

     

     

    Someone mentioned the other day that we have never won by more than 2 clear goals up there.

     

     

    The closest we’ve come to a comfy performance there imo is the game a couple of seasons ago when we were 4 nil but it was a bit ropey in the last ten

     

     

    HH

  5. mild mannered Pedro delgado on

    New name for sevco

     

     

    Queer,tawdrier dealings.

     

     

    Anagram for rangers were liquidated

  6. Looking forward to the game should be a good one. Hoops 3-1

     

     

    Any betting bhoys on? Looking at putting a bet on the Grand National. Going to open an account. First time I’ve done this so can anyone recommend a good one to use and that maybe offer a free bet etc?

     

     

    HH

  7. bournesouprecipe on

    Geordie

     

     

    Inverness and good games of football just don’t go.

     

     

    Maybe RD’s side can break the trend where MON WGS

     

    TM and NL couldn’t.

     

     

    Any three points and as Gary McAllister once commented

     

     

    “The mountains and things are lovely up here”

  8. Hooptastic,

     

     

    It’s a mugs game obviously but….

     

     

    I’d head to oddschecker and pick the bookie that has the best price for the nag you fancy.

     

     

    Go for one that has best odds guaranteed.

     

     

    I have an account with nearly all the bookies but find I put 95% of bets on bet Victor or bet365

     

     

    Good luck.

  9. Just had a text from my brother, – he’s just bought the domain name “BroxiBear.com” for £2.69. Flipping hilarious start to the day..! Cmon the Celts.

     

    HH

  10. Right. It’s off to work for me.

     

     

    There’s the rain on so hopefully it’ll be quiet and I’ll see the game.

     

     

    Enjoy those of you up there, and give it laldy.

     

     

    Mon the Leather Belts

  11. 25thMay1967 @ 13:08 10th April

     

     

    We stayed at the Riu Palace Pacifico in Neuvo Vallarta in 5th Feb this year for 14days. The hotel was excellent food, service etc was superb..got all our games on their Tele oR wifi ..God willing we will return again next year….Flights were from Manchester with Thomson Dreamliner again these were excellent ….

  12. The Rotten mob should explore the name change possability of the quite catchy :

     

    Sally’s Broxi cheque bouncey and the three shamed Berrs ;

     

     

    They’re Deid am tellin ye they’re Deid !

  13. TBJ says Wee Oscar Knox is in heaven with the angels on

    Sips / DD

     

     

    I will adhere to the Queens English … Let them misspell at their laysure ;)

  14. Mrs O.G. Rafferty was, in a former life, a trade mark agent. I showed her the DR article and she said…

     

     

    ‘What a can of worms to open! It’s a criminal offence (which can carry unlimited fines and a custodial sentence) to infringe Ashley’s trademarks as well as being open to action in the civil courts. If he owns the trademark rights and is using them correctly under licence then I can’t see how anyone else can say that they own them, however far removed the new logo would be’

     

     

    Oh dear.

  15. Put a pound on that one each way. Put a pound on that one each way. Put 2 pound on that one to win. Put a pound on that one each way. And that and that one too.

     

     

     

    Feckinggrandnatiomalday csc

  16. blantyretim is praying for the Knox family on

    Just call them the gardeners

     

     

    They spend a fortune on them

  17. Delaneys Dunky on

    TBJ

     

     

    My mammy is proud of you.

     

    We should never lower ourselves to their level. ;)

     

    Kaya time!

  18. South Of Tunis on

    Loan Arrangers sounds good.

     

     

    Begin any communication with them thus –

     

     

    Hun no savvy.

  19. embramike says "the Huns are Deid" on

    Celtic Football Club ‏@celticfc now3 seconds ago

     

     

    Celtic starting XI: Gordon; Ambrose, Denayer, van Dijk, Izaguirre; Brown, Bitton; Mackay-Steven, Johansen, Armstrong; Griffiths