What's in a name?

Like any company that comes out with cool new products, we've tried to find ways to provide descriptive names to our products.

Sometimes those products names are hits like calling our suspension systems "Game-Changing" or our TJ Fenders "Overlines". Each name has a purpose.

Sometimes our names are just designed to be catchy... like calling our Long Travel, Compact Body shocks, the 6Paks. Much easier to remember.

With each new name usually comes a lot of due diligence... research to ensure that the particular name we are choosing does not conflict with a similar product in the same industry.

Like in the case of the Lock-N-Load long arm system. Lock-N-Load is nothing new... but using it as a descriptive name of a suspension part is new and therefore trademarkable.

Even though another off road company recently released a product called the Lock and Load it is not a suspension component and wouldn't be worth our time to pursue.

For the most part, we tend to get it right.

But recently we stepped in it. Deep.

In 2010 we started naming several of our JK products with the prefix Exo. Like the ExoSkin or the ExoCorner.

The ExoSkin name came from looking for a way to describe the extra protection we provide to the JK exterior on our Overline Fender System.

Exo-Cage's have been around for a long time, so I thought an ExoSkin is doing the same thing... protecting the exterior of the rig... and a trademarkable name was born.

When we went to release our new Hinge-Mounted Tire Carrier, I was digging deep for some possible names. Because there is an already established marketplace for those kinds of carriers, the name selection was slim. All the obvious choices like TrailGate or TireGate were taken.

But, at the last minute, while discussing possibilities with my team, the term ExoGate hit me. Of course! It makes sense and it falls in line with names we starting using in 2010.

This was in the 11th hour while getting ready for Off Road Expo... flyers were made, and several videos were done at ORE where I used the name ExoGate.

Well, I blew it.

No sooner had I returned from the show than I got an email from the editor over at JPFreek magazine pointing out a naming conflict.

Apparently GR8TOPS starting using the name ExoGate for their TJ Tire Carrier in 2011.

Ooops.

And if you Google search ExoGate... there is no doubt that the name exists.

Double Ooops.

I am not sure why my preliminary search did not come up with anything, but, needless to say, it needed to be changed.

Not only on our site, but on all the forums where we posted the new release.

And press releases.

And pictures.

Whew.

None of this was done by the request of GR8TOPS. For all I know Matt could care less, but it was done because we are not the type of company to take something from someone else and just run with it. Heck, within a couple months of marketing the front page of Google would have been dominated by Metalcloak's ExoGate. With the TJ Exogate a distant memory.

But again, we are just not that type of company.

So the name was changed.

Introducing the SportGate Tire Carrier.

Requests were sent out across the web to change the title of threads or the placement of press releases, website was updated and, and, and...

What's in a name? Pride. Respect. Confidence.