Trademark Issue Arose
Tough Fall Behind, Horton Amped For Classic

Photo: ESPN OUtdoors Tim Horton said that when he talked to folks at the Tim Hortons corporate headquarters, the negotiations were friendly and cordial.

Tim Horton's tour through the politics of fishing taught him a lot. He learned about representation, negotiation, and probably at least a little about retaliation.

But one of the main things he took away should serve him well in his career – that events in fishing, like in any other major sport, can compound. Whether it's a streak, a slump, or a series of unfortunate occurrences, they come in groups. And when a bad ball starts rolling, a lot of the fun soon evaporates.

"This biggest thing about it – dealing with the negative circumstances – was that the sport became less fun for me," he said. "I can see the reason BASS and other companies wanted to have those boats – I understand it from a business scenario – and it wasn't anything I think they were doing wrong.

"But at the same time, you have to understand why we wanted (our own boats), and how the guys coming to me and the board members created conflict. It was nothing personal, it was just a lot of negative turmoil happening over and over.

"Under those circumstance, it's hard to keep the positive mindset to be successful," he added. "It just created a negative feeling all the time. The last couple of years have been the least fun of any in my tournament career."

Coffee Clash

Of course, one of the biggest reasons BASS anglers wanted to fish from their own boats was because their pro identities were, in large part, tied to their boats. That was even more the case last year, because BASS pros were required to wrap their boats for the Bassmaster Elite Series.

Horton noted that in BASS, he's "allowed to create (his) own identity," which is a big plus to fishing that league. But he ran into some more negative feelings last year when he tried to trademark his name and logo.

"I was excited going into last year, with the things BASS was doing for the anglers," he said. "I was excited BASS was giving us the opportunity to market ourselves. So I was feeling good about things, and I was in 8th or 9th place (in the BASS points) going into Lake Champlain, but it kind of went downhill a little toward the end.

"With the accident, and the Tim Hortons deal, it was a pretty tough fall."

He shares his name with the Tim Hortons chain of donut-and-coffee shops in Canada and border areas of the U.S. The chain was started in 1964 by Tim Horton, a career Toronto Maple Leaf who won four Stanley Cups in the 1960s, then was traded to the Buffalo Sabres in the latter stages of his career. He was killed in 1974, at the age of 44, in a tragic car crash while driving back to Buffalo after a game in Toronto.

Tim Horton the hockey player, and the donut chain, are icons of Canadian culture. The corporation's net sales are over $400 million per year, and it defends its trademark vigorously. When Horton went to register his name and logo as a trademark, it caught the eye of the Tim Hortons legal team, and caught him off-guard.

"The people at Tim Hortons were very cordial," Horton noted. "I think at the beginning, what I couldn't get across from my attorney, was that I wanted to go to the corporate office and discuss it. We went back and forth with the attorneys for months, and they weren't going to allow me any opportunity whatsoever to use my name without stipulations.

"Fortunately, as the corporate office got wind of it, I think they got educated a little from our end about pro fishing – the size of it. They allowed me to go and use my name, as long as I don't register it as a trademark."

Horton also came to this conclusion: "Nobody's going to protect that name more than they are. Why should I pursue (trademark infringements) when they're going to pursue it anyway? As far as I'm concerned, now it's a closed deal, and I actually made a friend in their company. It's rare in legal disputes where both sides are friendly and cordial and understanding, but the whole last month of the deal was that way."

Horton received some added press in the deal too, with articles in major Canadian newspapers, and an invitation to be guest on the Canada AM TV show.

But in all, 2006 was a year he was glad to put behind him.

Ready and Stoked

With last year a memory, here's what Horton said about the upcoming season.

"I'm ready to go. I'm really excited. And I'm looking forward to the (Bassmaster) Classic in Birmingham (Ala.). We've had a couple there, and man, it's just awesome. It's an awesome crowd, and I've found you really get motivated because it's so loud there.

"I'm just really excited about this season."

He did note, too, that's he's stoked to go to California – not exactly a common sentiment within the South-rich BASS ranks. That's because his last trip there was strong – in 2003 he finished 40th at the California Delta and 6th at Clear Lake.

"I thoroughly enjoyed going to California last time, and had a successful run," he said. "One thing BASS has done is, our schedules the last 2 years have been just incredible. It's been some great fishing, in a lot of areas of the country, and that's enough to get any pro excited.

"My goal this year is just to get focused back on fishing," he added. "I'm anxious to have some good finishes again, and I'm excited to learn about fishing and new patterns again.

"I'm a firm believer in runs, and in my career, I've had lots of peaks, and not a lot of valleys. Last year, I had some valleys, and I want to eliminate those and have more peaks."

Notable

> He'll run a Bass Pro Shops wrap this year.

> About learning new things, he said he did last year, but was a little coy about describing it in detail, because he wants to utilize it more this year. "I really learned something at the Oneida tournament last year that I'd never seen before in fishing. And at Santee, I caught fish on a bait so big you'd think a bass would never eat it. But they wanted that. I can't wait to go to Amistad and apply those same techniques."