Hobie Trademark Use Policy

1. Introduction

Hobie Brands International, L.C., Hobie Cat Company, and its affiliates (“Hobie”) has a reputation for developing, manufacturing and distributing high quality products and services, all of which are embodied in the trademarks and logos of Hobie. In order to preserve its reputation and protect its trademarks and its investment therein, Hobie intends to diligently guard against any violation of its trademarks. While Hobie acknowledges, and welcomes, the desire of third parties to show affiliation with Hobie, such parties are not permitted to use any trademarks of Hobie in a manner that suggests affiliation with or endorsement by Hobie unless they have entered into written agreements with Hobie that define the permitted terms of use.

This trademark use policy (“Policy”) is intended to provide third parties with an overview of the legal rights associated with trademarks and lay out important general rules and restrictions that will apply to use of Hobie’s trademarks and logos by third parties. This Policy is subject to change at any time and without notice.

2. Trademarks

Trademarks are used in identifying and distinguishing a product, service, program or company. Trademarks can be expressed in forms such as letters and words, logos, pictures, a combination of words and a logo, slogans, colors, product shapes, and sounds. Examples of some of Hobie's most commonly used trademarks include the following: Hobie®, Hobie Cat®, Mirage®, and MirageDrive®. A complete list of all of Hobie's trademarks is available at https://www.hobie.com/ip/.

As the owner of its trademarks, Hobie has exclusive rights to use them in connection with its products or services and is obligated to prevent others from using its trademarks inappropriately. It is the policy of Hobie to vigorously enforce its trademark rights against any third party that infringes on its trademarks, and no third party has authority to use any of the Hobie trademarks without the express written consent of an authorized representative of Hobie. If authorization and consent is given for use of Hobie's trademarks, it is expected that you will comply in all respects with the requirements and conditions set forth in this Policy and in any other guidelines promulgated by Hobie.

3. Prohibited Uses of Hobie’s Trademarks

In order to ensure that you do not infringe on any the Hobie trademarks, you should avoid doing any of the following:

• Using a Hobie trademark in a manner that is likely to show or imply either an affiliation with Hobie or an endorsement by Hobie of specific companies, products, services, materials, or programs without the permission of Hobie.
• Using the Hobie corporate logo or any other Hobie logo in any materials that you create independently without the permission of Hobie.
• Using a Hobie trademark in a manner that is likely to confuse the public about the origin of products, services, materials, or programs.
• Using a mark similar enough to a Hobie mark that it could be confused as a Hobie trademark (considering visual, phonetic and connotations of the marks).
• Altering, adapting, modifying, animating or morphing any Hobie trademarks.
• Using the Hobie name or Hobie trademarks as the visual focal point of any materials.
• Using a Hobie trademark in a manner that is likely to dilute, defame, disparage, or harm the reputation of Hobie.
• Using the Hobie name or trademarks as all or part of a product, service, solution, program or company name.

4. Permissible References to Hobie Materials

Hobie acknowledges that the use of Hobie trademarks, excluding any Hobie logos, may be necessary to describe the subject matter of some materials, products, and/or programs. Consequently, Hobie does allow descriptive uses of its trademarks; however, the Hobie name and other Hobie trademarks, excluding any Hobie logos, may be used ONLY when necessary to describe the subject matter of the materials, products, and/or programs. All uses must be accurate and descriptive in nature so there is no likelihood of confusion to the public. Examples include the following:

• Do Say: XYZ Company is a supplier/customer of Hobie Cat Company.
• Do Say: XYZ Company’s product has been successfully tested to be compatible with the kayak of Hobie Cat Company.

On the other hand, the following uses are not permitted:

• Do Not Say: XYZ Company, Hobie Cat Company-preferred reseller.
• Do Not Say: XYZ Company’s product is Hobie Cat Company-compatible.

If a descriptive phrase includes a trademark of Hobie as permitted above, it must meet the following additional requirements:

• The descriptive phrase must be accurate and not misleading and must truthfully describe the products and services of any third party. For example, the third party should not use the Hobie trademarks in a manner that inaccurately implies compatibility or conformance to any Hobie specifications.
• The Hobie trademarks may not be used in a manner that will cause potential confusion about the relationship between Hobie and the products or services of the third party such as, for example, incorrectly implying that Hobie sponsors or endorses the products or services.
• When using a descriptive phrase to indicate that its products are for use with products of Hobie, the third party’s own product and company names must be displayed much more prominently than any Hobie trademark referenced so that the source of the third-party product is clear.

Descriptive phrases should properly attribute the trademark with an appropriate symbol and legend as described in Hobie’s Trademark and Logo Use Guidelines, which are available at https://www.hobie.com/ip/.

When using Hobie trademarks in the titles of books, magazines, articles, e-zines, educational seminars, user groups, trade shows, conferences, and expos, the following special guidelines apply in addition to those set forth above:

• The public must not be given the impression that Hobie is the source of a third-party publication, educational seminar, user group, trade show, conference, or expo.
• When used in a title, the use of a Hobie trademark must be to describe the Hobie product or service and not the publication, educational seminar, trade show, conference or expo.
• The company name and logo of the third party should appear in a prominent location on all materials relating to the publication, educational seminar, trade show, conference or expo.
• If a Hobie trademark is used in the title of a publication, educational seminar, user group, trade show, conference, or expo, a trademark attribution legend should be used in the following form in the legal notices and publication block (if a magazine) and on all related materials referencing the Hobie trademark: “[description of trademarks] are trademarks or registered trademarks of Hobie Brands International, L.C. in the United States and other countries. [name of publisher, producer or provider] is independent of Hobie Brands International, L.C.”

5. Trademark Permission Requests

To request permission to use a Hobie trademark, please contact Hobie’s Trademark Department at [email protected]

6. Disclaimer and Acknowledgment

If permission is granted, all uses of the Hobie trademarks should be coupled with the following disclaimer, as well as an acknowledgement of Hobie’s trademarks rights. The disclaimer and acknowledgement should appear with your company’s standard notices and disclaimers, and must appear conspicuously on your company’s materials. “This material is not sponsored by, endorsed by, or affiliated with Hobie Cat Company. [trademark], [trademark] and [trademark], and the company logo of Hobie Cat Company are registered trademarks or trademarks of Hobie Brands International, L.C. and/or its affiliates in the United States and certain other countries.” Third parties may not state or suggest that they have, or are claiming, rights in any trademarks owned by Hobie.

7. Disclaimer

This Policy is not intended to serve as legal advice. Should you have questions regarding your legal rights or duties, please consult your own attorney. Should you have further questions regarding the policies of Hobie with respect to its trademarks, please contact Tricia Tarkington at [email protected]