Hello Bert,
1. I will say it one last time. It is not my Trademark as I have very clearly stated. I DO NOT HAVE OWNERSHIP. So how could I proceed with anything? I wrote yesterday's post because I wanted to make it clear that I do not own the Trademark. You only have to look at the IP Australia website to see that. You have written to me and I quote "Be very careful with how you proceed without legal advise". I believe you meant advice.
2. Do you know what Helen Gothe does for a living or her background or whether she has had advice?
3. I am aware that the Trademark application took well over 7 months and was advertised appropriately with IP Australia. Many people became aware of the application (IP Australia is a public website). It would appear that no-one appealed the application during the months where an appeal could have very easily taken place. I suppose it is possible that an appeal was made but if that did occur it must have been deemed as being without merit or was simply unsuccessful? Either way the Trademark was issued after what can only be described as a long and drawn out process but one which appropriately allows people and organisations plenty of time to make an appeal if they choose to do so. Why do you think no successful appeal was made against the Trademark application? It certainly appears that the application was public knowledge. Stories run through the bowling community like wildfire and always have.
4. I know that Helen Gothe felt strongly enough to put her hands in her own pocket to go through the Trademark process because she understands the love many bowlers have for the traditions of what the Walter Rachuig Trophy is and what makes it so very special. It is the only truly unique event Australian bowling has. It commenced way back in 1963. There are thankfully still people out there who love and value tradition and history. It is why we don't tear down every single beautiful old building and replace them with towering glass skyscrapers. Maybe there are some people in the bowling community who want to protect something which they consider sacrosanct? Anyone could have made a simple phone call or sent an email saying - "Hey do you know that Helen Gothe has applied to Trademark the Walter Rachuig Trophy" but it would appear that this did not happen. Sometimes an individual's silence says infinitely more than words ever can.
5. Perhaps there are bowlers who would like to see Rachuig remain as a REPRESENTATIVE team event with competitors from each state, territory and New Zealand? Has ANYONE even asked them to find out? BUT what would I know? I will say one thing that I do know. The late John Sullivan won 2 Australian Opens, the Melbourne Cup, the Sydney Cup and the South Pacific Classic as well as 4 FIQ Gold medals including a World Championships FIQ Doubles Gold along with many other titles during a glittering bowling career. He told me on multiple occasions over many years that the Walter Rachuig Trophy was the most special event he ever competed in. He said this was because there was nothing else like it with the atmosphere of competing against people you knew in front of parochial people supporting their OWN region's representative teams like you would support your football team. That type of atmosphere cannot be replicated in our sport - it is a 'one of a kind'.
Anyway the future of the Walter Rachuig Trophy is not my decision and nor should my voice be any louder than any other bowler who has an opinion. I am just convinced that there are some people out there who value history and tradition. Maybe that is part of the reason I will have been married 29 years this Sunday. I have a wife who is very much her own person but I do know that like me she also values our wonderful history and traditions in addition to the fact that she alone now owns a Trademark. It is worth remembering that not everything in this world we categorise as progress makes things better. The move to calculators in the last 30-40 years certainly hasn't improved children's arithmetic abilities has it? Victoria used to be a magical place to live - oh yes how we have progressed. It is now possible for an individual who took the better part of 6 years to complete an Arts degree (what on Earth is an Arts degree) to ultimately become a state Premier. Can a nightmare really last for 8 years? Oh yes hooray for progress!!!
Sean
(Not a Trademark owner).
