Dykes on Bikes®

U.S. Supreme Court Supports Dykes on Bikes®

News, Blogs and Buzz from around the Web / / 01.09.08 // max

Dykes on Bikes to Keep Name
The Advocate
January 09, 2008

Dykes on Bikes Trademark OKd - Challenger Rebuffed by High Court
National Gay News.com
Tuesday, 08 January 2008 17:27

Supreme Court: 'Dykes on Bikes' trademark can stand

seaqwa.com - Queer News Worldwide
January 8, 2008

Lesbian Bikers Win Case
GCN.ie
08 January 2008

Dykes on Bikes trademark approved by US court
Pink News.co.uk / / : posted by Gemma Pritchard
8th January 2008 15.38

Dykes on Bikes can keep name
Dublin attorney filed suit in 2006
Inside BayArea.com / / :By Sophia Kazmi, STAFF WRITERArticle Last Updated:
01/08/2008 02:35:53 AM PST

Dykes Win Trademark Battle
365Gay.com / / : Newscenter Staff
Posted: January 8, 2008 - 11:00 am ET

Supreme Court Leaves Giant Skid Mark
GoingLike60.com
January 8, 2008

Dykes on bikes gets all clear
Visordown News
January 8, 2008

Supremes Like Dykes
Fresh Intelligence Radar Online.com / / : By FI Staff
January 8, 2008 - 11:15 AM

"'Dykes on Bikes' trademark OKd - challenger rebuffed by high court"
How Appealing. Law.com / / : Posted by Howard Bashman
January 8, 2008 at 09:30 AM

Dykes On Bikes Wins Copyright Lawsuit (Again)
Queerty.com
January 8, 2008

'Dykes on Bikes' trademark survives Dublin lawyer's challenge 1-7-08
ChimpsterNation.com / / : posted by MissMarple
07 Jan 08, 2008 - 19:55

South Bay Riders
Dykes on Bikes / / : posted by Thumper s
January 07, 2008 - 09:34 PM PST

Dykes On Bikes' Challenge Fails
Master's Site
Jan 8, '08 8:21 AM

‘Dykes on Bikes’ trademark OKd
A Typical Joe - A Gay New Yorker / / :Posted by Joe Windish
January 8, 2008 at 7:57am

You go, girls!!!!!!!
The Onion Personals / / : posted by slug
January 07, 2008 - 05:18 pm

'Dykes on Bikes' trademark survives Dublin lawyer's challenge
DemocraticUnderground.com / / : posted by BookLover on
Jan-07-08 04:27 PM

Supreme Court Upholds Dykes On Bikes Trademark
CBS5.com
Jan 7, 2008 1:15 pm US/Pacific

High court upholds trademark of lesbian biker group
USA Today / / :Posted by Michael Winter
January 07, 2008 at 06:55 PM/ET

Dykes on Bikes Trademark Lawsuit Upheld
Biker News Online / / : by Steve
Monday, January 07, 2008

Supreme Court Upholds Dykes On Bikes Trademark
Topix.net - CBS 5
January 07, 2008

U.S. Supreme Court upholds San Francisco group's Dykes on Bikes trademark
San Jose Mercury News
Article Launched:
January 07, 2008 12:48:19 PM PST

Court Backs Dykes On Bikes In Trademark Case
FoxReno.com
POSTED: January 7, 2008 12:16 pm PST

Court Backs Dykes On Bikes In Trademark Case
KTVU.com
POSTED: January 7, 2008 12:16 pm PST

Dykes On Bikes' Challenge Fails
gay & lesbian news blog
posted by thomas c jackson
January 7, 2008 @ 10:32 PM

The Passion of the (_|_) - Dykes on Bikes
LiveJournal.com
[Jan. 7th, 2008|07:11 pm]

Supreme Court: 'Dykes On Bikes' Can Keep Name
Challenge To SF Motorcycle Group Shot Down
nbc11.com
POSTED: 12:50 pm PST January 7, 2008
UPDATED: 1:14 pm PST January 7, 2008

Judge denies challenge to motorcycle club name
KFTY.com
January 7, 2007 11:55 am

Is the lesbian motorcycle club known as "Dykes on Bikes" disparaging to lesbians?
Wis.Dm - Question Everything / / : posted by Johnny_on_the_spot
January 7, 2008

'Dykes on Bikes' beats lawyer's challenge
Clutch and Chrome
January 7th, 2008

Dykes On Bikes' Challenge Fails
Gay News Blog
January 07, 2008

Supreme Court: Go, dykes, go!
San Francisco Bay Guardian
January 07, 2008

ABC7 News
Bay Area news roundup
abc7news.com, CA -
January 07, 2008

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For the most extensive collection of links regarding the historic Dykes on Bikes® Trademark Lawsuit. U.S. Trademark Serial No. 78281746 See Trademark Archive

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PRIDE AND JOY
San Francisco shows its true colors in annual celebration of LGBT people and those who love them -- drag queens, Dykes on Bikes® strut their stuff on Market Street
Julian Guthrie, SF Chronicle Staff Writer
Monday, June 25, 2007

Families Fighting Prejudice One Focus of This Year's Pride
Posted June 25, 2007 at 3:45 a.m. SAN FRANCISCO (KRON)

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

January 08, 2008

U.S. SUPREME COURT REJECTS CHALLENGE TO “DYKES ON BIKES” TRADEMARK

Decision removes last obstacle to registration of trademark

(San Francisco, CA, January 8, 2008) — Today, the San Francisco Women’s Motorcycle Contingent (SFWMC) announced that the United States Supreme Court denied a petition seeking review of a U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit decision affirming the group’s trademark of the name “DYKES ON BIKES.” After a four year pro bono legal battle, no further appeals are possible in this historic case and the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office issued a final registration of the trademark.

On July 11, 2007, the Federal Circuit rejected the argument that the name “DYKES ON BIKES” was disparaging to men.

“I am delighted the Supreme Court denied review and that ‘Dykes on Bikes’ will be protected under law,” said Vick Germany, the group’s president. “We have used the name ‘Dykes on Bikes’ for over 30 years as a mark of pride and dignity, taking it away from those who formerly used it as an epithet. Thanks to yesterday’s ruling by the Supreme Court, our long battle to use a name that reflects our strength as women and as lesbians is finally over”

Soni Wolf, SFWMC secretary said, “I want to take this opportunity to thank all involved in this historic endeavor to trademark our historically significant name, ‘Dykes on Bikes.’ I am giddy with happiness, relief, and a profound sense of our place in the history of the LGBT community.”

“We are delighted with the ruling. It is now clear that asserting pride in being ‘DYKES ON BIKES’ does not impact others negatively,” said Brooke Oliver, the lead attorney on the case. “A lone person with a political objection to women’s political speech does not have standing to object to a trademark. More broadly, this decision protects every company’s trademark applications from being challenged by random individuals with an axe to grind.”

“The ‘DYKES ON BIKES’ trademark is an important symbol to the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community,” said Greg Gilchrist of Townsend and Townsend and Crew. “Although it took a long time, the Trademark Office eventually agreed that the mark deserved fair and equal protection under the trademark laws. In this latest proceeding, we are grateful that the United States Supreme Court agreed that bias against the San Francisco Women’s Motorcycle Contingent was no basis for further delay.”

The Trademark Office initially rejected the group’s application for a trademark in early 2004, on the ground that the name “DYKES ON BIKES” is allegedly disparaging to lesbians. In response, Brooke Oliver and the National Center for Lesbian Rights submitted more than two dozen expert declarations from scholars, linguists, psychologists, and activists showing how the word “dyke” has evolved to become a positive term and that lesbians view “DYKES ON BIKES” as a symbol of pride and empowerment. The Trademark Office then denied the request a second time.

After bringing in additional assistance from the law firm of Townsend and Townsend and Crew, the SFWMC appealed the denial. In a decision issued December 6, 2004, the Trademark Office reversed itself and granted the application.

In February, 2006, an individual filed an opposition to the trademark, alleging the name “DYKES ON BIKES” was disparaging to men, as well as wrongly accusing group members of misconduct toward him and men generally. On September 13, the U.S. Trademark Trial and Appeal Board dismissed the opposition ruling in citable precedent that he had no standing to oppose registration of the mark. The Federal Circuit Court of Appeal affirmed the dismissal and held that registration of the mark “DYKES ON BIKES” “would have no implications for a man” and that the individual who filed the opposition had failed to show that “his belief is shared by others.” The Supreme Court, yesterday, refused to hear any further appeals.

“This victory against bigotry and homophobia permits the SFWMC to assure that this famous slogan—‘DYKES ON BIKES’—is reserved for nonprofit and civil rights purposes,” said Oliver.

The nonprofit SFWMC sought registration of the trademark “DYKES ON BIKES” when an individual, unassociated with the organization, attempted to use the phrase for commercial purposes and wanted to charge contingents throughout the country for its use. The SFWMC organization decided to obtain trademark registration to protect the non-commercial use of the name and its meaning to the LGBT community from private commercial use.

The SFWMC was represented pro-bono by Brooke Oliver and Pablo Manga of Oliver-Sabec, P.C., Gregory Gilchrist, Gia Cincone, and Raquel Pacheco of Townsend and Townsend and Crew LLP, and the National Center for Lesbian Rights.

The case is McDermott vs. San Francisco Women's Motorcycle Contingent, 07-7126.

Brooke Oliver
Founder and Managing Attorney
Oliver-Sabec P.C.
415.641.1116
brooke@oliversabec.com

Calla Devlin
Communications Director
National Center for Lesbian Rights
415.392.6257 x324
cdevlin@nclrights.org

Greg Gilchrist

Townsend and Townsend
and Crew LLP
415.273.7564 gsgilchrist@townsend.com

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U.S. Supreme Court JUSTICE Dykes on Bikes®

News / / 01.08.08 // max

'Dykes on Bikes' trademark survives Dublin lawyer's challenge
Bob Egelko, Chronicle Staff Writer
Monday, January 7, 2008

(01-07) 16:13 PST SAN FRANCISCO - A San Francisco motorcycle club gained long-sought legal approval today for its trademark of the name "Dykes on Bikes" when the U.S. Supreme Court turned away a challenge from a lawyer who said the term denigrated men.

Without comment, the justices denied review of an appeal by Michael McDermott of Dublin, who challenged a decision by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office to grant the San Francisco Women's Motorcycle Contingent exclusive rights over the commercial use of Dykes on Bikes.

The motorcycle club applied for a trademark in 2003 after using Dykes on Bikes for three decades as the moniker of the motorized unit that leads San Francisco's annual Gay Pride Parade. The club's attorney, Gregory Gilchrist, said the group had no business plans for the phrase but decided to seek legal protection after an offshoot group, now independent, discussed putting the name on T-shirts for sale.

The trademark office initially rejected the application, saying the name was disparaging to lesbians, but approved it in January 2006 after the club submitted evidence that activists were trying to reclaim "dykes" as a term of pride. Gilchrist said the lawyers pointed out that the office had approved trademarks for other once-derogatory terms - for example, the television show "Queer Eye for the Straight Guy."

McDermott, a self-described men's rights advocate, objected to the trademark office and the courts, arguing that the term was disparaging - to men - as well as "scandalous and immoral." Those categories are grounds for denial of a trademark.

A trademark would put the definition in the hands of a group of "thought police," and contradict the "widespread documented understanding of the term 'dyke' as describing hyper- militant radicals hateful toward men," McDermott wrote in his Supreme Court appeal.

He also said men were illegally excluded from city streets traversed by the annual Dyke March, which precedes the Gay Pride Parade and is also led by bikers.

Without addressing those claims, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, which rules on patent and trademark issues, dismissed McDermott's case in July, saying he could not show that he would be harmed by the designation.

To have legal standing to oppose a trademark, McDermott needed "a reasonable basis for a belief that he would be damaged by its registration," the court said. "The registration of the proposed mark would have no implications for a man."

Asked for comment on the Supreme Court's decision today, McDermott replied with an e-mail quoting Justice Antonin Scalia's dissent from a 2003 ruling overturning state sodomy laws, in which Scalia said the court "has largely signed on to the so-called homosexual agenda."

The Supreme Court case is McDermott vs. San Francisco Women's Motorcycle Contingent, 07-7126.

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For the most extensive collection of links regarding the historic Dykes on Bikes® Trademark Lawsuit. U.S. Trademark Serial No. 78281746 See Trademark Archive

Download Dykes on Bikes® Logo

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Blog Comments Worth Noting // 01.09.08 // max

from SFGate.com Comments

tubby wrote:
i make it a point to go to the castro on pink saturday, specifically to watch the tail end of the dyke march (which includes a lot of women on motorcycles). and i've been to about 15 sf pride parades, but i gotta say that for the last few years the only reason i crawl out of bed to make it there is so i can see the dykes on bikes and catch some of their exuberance. kudos to them!
Posted 1/7/2008 1:45:36 PM

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sconnie wrote:
I used to work for a couple of ladies in Cole Valley who were that way, one of them was a lipstick lesbian and her partner a fearsome bulldyke. They referred to themselves as "dykes," and encouraged me to refer to them and those of their female friends of a similar persuason as "dykes." There was never any derogatory shading to the term in my entire experience with these women. Then all of that politically correct vocabulary censorship came about, and now you can't call anyone anything anymore. But I still call 'em dykes, dammit, and I always will.
Posted 1/7/2008 3:01:44 PM

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greenmansf wrote:
I love the Dykes on Bikes. I have photographed them many times, pre-parade. And none of them ever opened up any anti-male hate riot" on me. Not one. They posed for pictures and gave me their emails so I could send them the pictures I took. They are all superfine women. Also, I have been to many dyke marches. There are plenty of men there supporting these women and their march. No one has ever told us to leave or not to cheer for our friends in the parade....
Posted 1/7/2008 4:40:05 PM

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boehmer wrote:
I've always wondered why the work "Dyke" was chosen by this motorcycle group. The fact is that the identification of a Dyke is in fact a tool which is used to form electrical wiring. A Dyke is used to both twist, bend copper wire for the purposes of electrical connections. It is similar to a popular tool known as a pair of pliers. The word: Dyke is also used as a wall or ditch to protect land from the encroaching sea. Dykes are very common in nations like Holland.
Posted 1/7/2008 5:00:20 PM

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zugzwang wrote:
"I've always wondered why the work "Dyke" was chosen by this motorcycle group." I have a wild theory about that, actually. Here goes - 1.) it rhymes with "bikes," and 2.) it is used for lesbians, which is what this group primarily consists of.
Posted 1/7/2008 5:02:16 PM

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ArturoE wrote:
Hey I'm a guy and a pretty conservative one at that. And I looooooooooooove Dykes on Bikes! When I lived in SF, I thought their part in the parade was tres cool. Like their "in your face" attitude and the way they live the way they want to live. Lesbians and Harleys . . . it's a beautiful thing!
Posted 1/7/2008 5:17:06 PM

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nomad913 wrote:
OK...I just read this entire 9 page thread and boy was it entertaining...even recommended a number of your responses. Now I just gotta say anyone who has a problem with this needs to smoke a doob and chill. I mean it's not Dykes on Bikes with Rifles. Don't go to someone else's party if you're just gonna bitch. I mean, HOLY SMOKES! We had a show on TV called Queer Eye For The Straight Guy and look how many peopled turned gay after watching that!!! I RAMBLING!! SO FRIGGIN' WHAT! LET'S ALL HUG!
Posted 1/7/2008 6:36:38 PM

updated: 04/28/2008 3:26 PM

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