For those who read this board and are following our progress in Ann Arbor I wanted to let you know that we've changed our name.
Sometimes name changes ring warning bells and folks want to know the "real story". I want to assure you that there have been absolutely NO CHANGES with our underlying business mission, funding or personnel. The name changes were purely a marketing decision combined with the pragmatics of creating and protecting a brand identity.
As always I never write one word where I can write a novella instead - so for the "full story" please read on.
Summary
In 2007 I started out as rEVolution Electric Vehicles(TM), LLC selling another company's product line
In 2008 we formed Electric Vehicle Manufacturing, LLC to produce our own bike
In 2009 we created Current Motor Company(TM), LLC to sell this bike to the public
Why all the changes?
When we formed the company to manufacture our own electric motorcycle we wanted something separate from my business selling another company's products. This was for two reasons: (a) rEV(TM) belonged solely to me but the new venture is a partnership between initially two co-founders and currently three partners (two initial founders plus one other) (b)at the time we formed we didn't know exactly where our venture would lead.
Thus in 2008 we chose the "rather boring but obvious name" of Electric Vehicle Manufacturing. It simply described what we set out to achieve.
Now, in 2009 we're about to start selling our first model. Personally I like rEVolution(TM) - which we had changed to REVolution(TM) (because some folks thought the first form was a typo). However, there were a couple of issues with that name (a) although I liked it, others didn't (b) there's a similarly named venture out there with a similar company name (c) there's a venture out there which although they don't have a product yet have registered the trademark REV-1. We could have gotten around (b) & (c) but when combined with (a) it became apparent that REV was on the way out.
Knowing that REV was going and that we wanted a better, more professional image (all names, logos etc. up to this point have been largely driven by yours truly - an engineer not a marketer) we approached a great company here in Ann Arbor (LeDuc Creative) and Current Motor Company(TM) was born. Complete with a snazzy new logo and all. I love the new name and the new brand (but it's bitter sweet and REV will always be a name I liked!).
What will happen to www.revevllc.com and www.evmfg.com?
Both sites and all email addresses will continue to function and will redirect to the new version.
Over time we will simply let REV fade away. However, Electric Vehicle Manufacturing, LLC continues to be our official business name under which we operate. It's already on our NHTSA and DOT applications, on our bank account and in other places out there. We could file an amendment and get all that changed - but right now we don't think we need to. Thus in business to business ventures you will likely see EVMFG(TM) whereas in business to customers you will likely see Current Motor Company (TM).
Your website (www.currentmotor.com) still refers to the old names
First try clearing your browser's cache. Next, if your referring to the about us page - yup, haven't updated that page yet. Finally, bear in mind that we will be replacing the entire site in the next week or so with a brand new version (courtesy of LeDuc Creative). The new site will still have the same depth of info of the existing site - but it will present that information better and the entire look and feel of the site will be much more professional.
Thanks for your support as we transition - things are going well and continue to get better!
All the best,
John H.
President, Current Motor Company(TM)
www.currentmotorcompany.com
www.currentmotor.com
www.currentmoco.com
www.currentmoto.com
(and a few other URLs as well!)
p.s. for the eagle eyed amongst you might wonder why I use (TM) in some places, nothing in others and don't use (R). It's deliberate. I'm not a lawyer so take the following for what it is - my informal description of my understanding:
(TM) stands for trademarked and is an indication anyone can use on a name which is unique to them. In effect you're saying "this is my trademark don't use it without my permission".
(R) (or the R in a circle) stands for "registered trademark" and indicates that the filing has been made and the trademark is registered with the federal government. The same basic protections exist between TM and R however R is "stronger" (more easily enforced) because to get registered someone at the government has reviewed your claim and agrees that you appear to have the rights to use that trademark. You cannot use the circled R until you've registered (to the owners of REV-1(R) I see that your registration date appears to be after you began using the circled R - strictly speaking that wasn't correct usage - but no harm done.)
Why do I not use (TM) on REV-1 but on rEVolution and REVolution etc.? We were beaten to the punch with REV-1 - someone else owns it. I have TM'd the other forms because we don't want someone else using the name straightaway and trying to pretend to be us. Note that the distinctive letter case makes rEVolution a trademark distinct from revolution the word. In time we will simply stop using REVolution, rEVolution and the full names entirely and our TM will be invalid and at that point someone else is welcome to them - but bear in mind there is a very similarly named company out there. In my, non-professional opinion you'd be best simply not to use - at the least research the issue carefully and decide on the risk vs. reward.
Why do I not place (TM) on Electric Vehicle Manufacturing but I do place it on EVMFG(TM)? For a trademark to be enforced it needs to be "non-generic". "The Haircut Place" or "First Bank" can't be immediately protected - these names simply describe the function and are thus considered generic. In my non-professional estimation "Electric Vehicle Manufacturing" is a generic name. However, the shortened form "EVMFG" is unique (because of the way it's presented and shortened) so we'll use (TM) to try and protect that usage to mean uniquely us.
We will be applying for (R) status on all our (TM)s in the coming weeks.
What's in a name? Apparently quite a lot!
