Peloton Files Trademark Cancellation Action Against Mad Dogg Athletics’ Spinning® and Spin® Trademark Registrations

Mad Dogg Athletics, Inc., a creator of “the Spin® and Spinning® branded line of bikes, programs and digital content,” today issued the following statement in response to media and other inquiries related to the trademark cancellation petition filed last week by Peloton Interactive, Inc.

Mad Dogg Athletics’ stated in a press release that it “is confident that Peloton’s legal action will fail. It appears to be little more than retaliation for Mad Dogg Athletics’ patent infringement lawsuit filed against Peloton in December 2020 seeking relief for Peloton’s misuse of Mad Dogg Athletics’ patented technology.

Peloton’s petition incorrectly paints a picture of Mad Dogg Athletics trying to assert rights that are not well established or grounded in trademark law. The opposite is true. It is a matter of public record that Mad Dogg Athletics has been continuously using, licensing, and enforcing rights in its SPIN® and SPINNING® marks for over 25 years, marks closely associated with Mad Dogg Athletics and properly protected by incontestable federal trademark registrations.

• Mad Dogg Athletics conceived of the famous SPIN® and SPINNING® marks in the early 1990s. The company holds numerous Spin® and Spinning® trademark registrations that have become incontestable under federal trademark law. The company has continuously used and defended its marks ever since in connection with indoor cycling bikes and programs that spawned the indoor cycling category. In addition to its comprehensive line of bikes (www.spinning.com), Mad Dogg Athletics has trained hundreds of thousands of Spinning® instructors that lead classes at many of the world’s finest studios and gyms.

• After creating the indoor cycling category and its line of Spinning® indoor cycling bikes and programs, Mad Dogg Athletics again revolutionized the indoor cycling category in 2010 with the introduction of the eSpinner® bike, which featured the world’s first touch-screen display designed to bring instructor-led coaching and interactive training to gyms as well as riders’ homes.

• Weeks before Peloton filed its trademark invalidity petition, Mad Dogg Athletics filed a federal lawsuit against Peloton for patent infringement.

The lawsuit, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas, alleges that Peloton’s Bike and Bike+ infringe patents held by Mad Dogg Athletics (U.S. Patent Nos. 9,694,240 and 10,137,328) covering core features of an indoor cycling bike designed to simulate an instructor-led class in the rider’s home.

Mad Dogg Athletics has continuously invested in and defended the Spinning® family of trademarks worldwide as a means of distinguishing its bikes, programs, and accessories from those of its competitors, including Peloton. The Spinning® brands provide consumers with a means to distinguish Mad Dogg Athletics products from knockoffs and other products that do not deliver the quality, design, and customer experience that have made the Spinning® brands world-famous.

Mad Dogg Athletics and its worldwide team of instructors have worked to help millions of people of all shapes, sizes, and abilities get into the best shape of their lives, believing that health and wellness is something that should be available to everyone. Mad Dogg Athletics will continue to support the Spinning® community, especially the instructors, studios, and gyms who have suffered tremendously over the past year due to the impact of Covid-19. And for the tens of thousands of riders that have our bikes at home, Mad Dogg Athletics will continue to deliver premium content and rides that truly bring the Spinning® studio experience home.”