Gold Coast INDY. CHAMP or INDY LEAGUE?

[DIEHARD]

OK as far as I know, Indy is a trademark of Indy Racing League.

But the Gold Coast "INDY" is listed as a fixture on the CHAMP CAR circuit.

I'm a F1 and A1 fan and follow little Indy, but seriously WTF is with this.

How can it be an INDY if it is a champ car fixture not IRL. Unless there is some trademark loop whole in Australia on who owns the Indy trademark.


In 1992, the Indianapolis Motor Speedway trademarked the IndyCar name and licenced it to CART, which in turn renamed its championship the IndyCar World Series.

During the 1996 season, the IndyCar name was the subject of a fierce legal battle. Prior to the 1996 season, Indianapolis Motor Speedway President Tony George had created his own national championship racing series called the Indy Racing League. In March of 1996, CART filed a lawsuit against the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in an effort to protect their licence of the IndyCar name which the Indianapolis Motor Speedway had attempted to terminate. In April, the Speedway filed a counter suit against CART to prevent them from further use of the name. Eventually a settlement was reached in which CART agreed to give up the use of the IndyCar name following the 1996 season and the IRL could not use the name before the end of the 2002 season. Following a six-year hiatus, the IRL announced it would rename its premier series the IRL IndyCar Series for the 2003 racing season.

Nowadays, the Indy Racing League is the sole owner of the name IndyCar, and the use of the term for any other racing series is incorrect.

The owner of the trademark in Australia is still "Indianapolis Motor Speedway Corporation", so I gather they let the Gold Coast race be INDY. But isn't this just confusing in the world of international sport?

Why would IRL (Indianapolis Motor Speedway Corporation) let CHAMP use the indy title? Unless IMSC are no longer connected with IRL. But Indianapolis is listed as a fixture on the IRL circuit and not champ. So why would they help CHAMP?

Also someone had better tell them to renew their trademark it expires in August 2006. :)

[Dakink]

Man there are too many running arouns - Im no help - you'll have to wait for someone with better motor sports knowledge than me!

[Steve Dangerous]

also says this:

The term IndyCar is now trademarked to the IRL in the United States, but Champ Car races in Australia and Canada may continue to bear the Indy name.

[DIEHARD]

also says this:

The term IndyCar is now trademarked to the IRL in the United States, but Champ Car races in Australia and Canada may continue to bear the Indy name.

That is an unreal situation. No wonder I was confused!

But it is still trademarked by IMSC in Australia. Maybe they don't care because Indy doesn't race outside of the USA?

[Queenslander]

I like the name of the Gold Coast Indy, even though I know its champ cars in the race. Its just a weird situation in motor sports :roll:

[Ipswich Fan]

Quite basically they've only trademarked the Indy name in the States meaning that anywhere else in the world is still free to use the Indy name.

[DIEHARD]

But IRL or IMSC have regged the name in Australia also.

[Titanium_BD1103]

That is true DIEHARD... all that is said above.. however it works like this from memory...;)

When the Indy split and became the Champcar World Series and the IRL back in the day... the name Indy was bought by the IRL but only in the USA... therefore all the other countries could use Champcar for either.. :)

The reason why the IRL has not done it in the other countries, is that it has no need to.. IRL is oval racing... it is based mainly in the US, Canada and South America and has no ideals to expand... it is there for the American Fans... :). Honda and Toyota are the main manufacturers of the series.

Champcar World Series on the other hand, the one we see in the Australia in October.. is a totally different series all together. It is mainly Road and Street course racing.. with One manufacturer in Ford Cogsworth and one Tire in Bridgestone. The Chassis are all the same and this series is the one that is expanding and growing.. it will go to Korea this year and is headed for England as well.

Champcar is the stronger of the 2 at the moment due to the hard work of Kalchoven and the other owners of the series. It has sponsor support and is seen by many as the step before heading to F1... :D

As for the why IRL would help Champcar.. very simple.. THEY DON'T.. LOL.. :laugh:

Gold Coast Indy is a unique event as in that name is owned by the event itself. It is part of the contract that was originally signed, and therefore remains allowable as long as that deal is renewed, which needs to be done this august if the article is correct.

IRL or IMSC could change the contract again.. but that would involve loads of paperwork and a bad name for the sport in an area where they may look to put an event into in the future, so why jeapodise that opportunity over a silly name... :D

Hope that makes some sense.. I will keep looking for more and asking around the motorsports forums for answers but that is what I have from my knowledge of the game over there in the US.