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Backcountry.com faces boycotts, social media backlash over trademark lawsuits. But the company remains mum.

Jason Blevins, Colorado Sun
Backcountry.com headquarters in Park City.
Ed Kosmicki, Special to The Colorado Sun

Outdoor enthusiasts aren’t letting go of their backcountry without a fight.

As news spreads about Backcountry.com’s recent slew of legal actions against small business owners using the word “backcountry” in their names, so is public outrage.

Within a few days of a Colorado Sun story detailing the U.S. District Court lawsuits and U.S. Patent and Trademark Office petitions filed on behalf of Backcountry.com, a Boycott Backcountry.com Facebook page has more than 4,500 members. A GoFundMe page is collecting money to support Marquette Backcountry Ski founder David Ollila, the only business owner who has not settled after being sued in federal court. 



Online forums — like those at Teton Gravity Research and Mountain Project — are galvanizing opposition to the e-retailer. 

“This obviously didn’t resonate well with the market,” said Ollila, the Michigan entrepreneur behind Marquette Backcountry Ski who was sued in September by Backcountry.com for trademark infringement. “Looking at all the comments online, I see people saying that until this is rectified, they are not shopping there. I see this as a great wake-up call to the industry and awareness about what it takes to run a small business and what a fair playing field looks like.”

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