The weight has been lifted.
A popular Nocatee-based rucking group has agreed to change its name, ending a high profile trademark dispute with the community’s master developer.
Tom Simon, co-leader of the group formerly known as NOC Rucks, told The Citizen Tuesday that the name has been officially changed to Ponte Vedra Ruck Club.
“We really want to make the focus of the group walking as a community rather than getting bogged down in controversy and litigation,” he said. “Our hope is that newcomers to Nocatee and the surrounding area searching for a free fitness and social group will be able to find us on Facebook under our own name.”
Lawyers for The Parc Group had repeatedly demanded that Simon and his co-leader Mike Schroder change the group’s name or face legal consequences.
The developer previously told The Citizen that it objects to all uses of the Nocatee trademark as a means of shielding the brand against unseemly or inappropriate affiliations.
A rep said they had no issue with the rucking group — but that they enforce the trademark across the board to avoid having to deal with cases a la carte.
Simon and Schroder initially resisted the developer’s demands, but ultimately felt that the controversy was detracting from the group’s core mission.
“At the end of the day, it doesn’t really matter what our name is,” he said. “The important thing is that we can continue to build a community through walking in Nocatee.”
The freshly renamed flock will march under its new banner for the first time on Wednesday.
“We have built the largest ruck club in the world here in Nocatee through kindness and inclusivity,” Simon said. “That’s not going to change as we move forward with a new club name.”
