Found this posting on line and I'm sure it's very old. It makes me glad this guy Leatherman didn't continue with Barth if he was going to just build cookie cutter fiberglass RVs. It also states there is one fiberBarth proto somewhere out there.

Did we know that Spartan owned Barth at some point? Probably a settlement of some kind.

Anyone know where the name Barth came from?

I wonder if this Leatherman guy still owns the name?

THE ARTICLE:

Barth Motor Home
1971 Barth 33ft Barth Motor Homes have always represented high quality and were well engineered and well built. There is not much information available online about Barth Motor Homes, so I will attempt to gather what I can and post it on these pages.

This was published in FMC magazine April 2001 :

Barth Revival Halted
Barth Custom Coach has ceased operations once again.

"Due to lack of orders and support for the continuation of the Barth, our family has made the decision not to produce the Barth Custom Coach," Keith Leatherman, president of Barth's parent company, Leatherman Construction Inc., said in a press release dated February 13, 2001.

Leatherman Construction had previously announced plans to manufacture 14 to 18 Barth custom motorhomes at a production facility in Albion, Indiana. The company reportedly spent nearly $500,000 to design, engineer, and produce a prototype complete with 14 new fiberglass molds. In the construction process, Barth incorporated a streamlined front to maintain the bus-type look typical of the earlier Barth motorhomes.

Barth road-tested the prototype for a full year and found it to be a quality product, according to Mr. Leatherman. He said the company had fielded numerous inquiries about purchasing a new Barth motorhome.

Leatherman Construction had purchased the assets of Barth RSV Inc. from Spartan Motors Inc. in 1998 with intentions of reviving the Barth motorhome.

The original Barth, founded in 1963, made factory-direct, custom-built motorhomes and motorized specialized vehicles for the recreational, educational, health care, governmental services, and transportation fields.

quote:

Originally posted by noble97monarch:

Anyone know where the name Barth came from?

Cory, do a search on the history of Barth.

"Bob Barth, considered to be one of the
pioneers in the travel trailer industry, left his first company, Beeline, to start
another travel trailer company bearing his own name."

Nick

Cory, Have you seen this one done a few years ago by Dave Bowers?

http://www.rvvideos.com/2007/0...arth-motorhomes.html

I remember there being quite a buzz in the Barth world when Leatherman announced his plans back in 2001?? We were members of Barth Rangers at that point and there was quite a blurb in the newsletter. If I recall correctly, on this new production, there was even an option to order coaches with or without slideouts. I also recall that the prices were up there, SOB's w/similar features could be bought for less, so they were really gonna attempt to make a run on the brand Barth.

If any of the old Barth Rangers are out there, aaand if any of their old newsletters survived, I seem to recall that the info. was located somewhere there......

Tina

quote:

Cory, Have you seen this one done a few years ago by Dave Bowers?

Thanks Don, that was an awesome thing to wake up to this morn.

quote:

Cory, do a search on the history of Barth.

Morning Nick,

I did do a search, but missed the particular history you mentioned. I did find this interesting post from the begining moments of Barthmobile.com, hope it still isn't a money pit!:

Barth Motor Homes Dave Bowers 3-17-01
Just a quick note. A couple months ago for the fun of it I started a web site for Barth motorhomes. www.barthmobile.com It is totally non profit, in fact, it's amoney pit. But we do have 14 totally awsome Barth motorhomes for sale. From a 1971 to an awsome 1998 40 footer. Check it out just for the fun of it..

quote:

Did we know that Spartan owned Barth at some point? Probably a settlement of some kind.

I wonder if this Leatherman guy still owns the name?

These questions remain.......

quote:

Did we know that Spartan owned Barth at some point?

During some research a couple years ago, I talked with a former Barth employee (assembly type - not a mgmt type). It was his recollection that Barth had gotten themselves terribly upside down with Spartan at one point on chassis inventory and had worked out a debtor-in-possession arrangement with Spartan to pay them off on a 100%-plus basis for every unit that was sold until they caught up.
Apparantly things got worse and Spartan ended up being a major secured creditor during the end times. This may have put Spartan in the driver's seat during liquidation and made them defacto "owners" for a period of time...He mentioned that Spartan had no interest in the motorhome business - they just wanted their money.

....'Course, that could have been just talk-around-the-water-cooler too.......

Lee, it makes a lot of sense that Spartan would be the largest creditor. I'll bet the smaller suppliers started shutting Barth down to a cash only arrangement and Spartan found it beneficial to just buy out the remaining creditors versus bankruptcy. Or...Spartan may have been awarded the company in bankruptcy.

It leaves one final question....Who owns the copyrighted Barth name now? Could be Spartan...could be Leatherman...could be back in the public domain???

quote:

Originally posted by noble97monarch:
Who owns the copyrighted Barth name now? Could be Spartan...could be Leatherman...could be back in the public domain???

From what I understand it was Leatherman and then it was never renewed and is now in the public domain.

I have been asked this question several times and each time it was slanted in such a fashion that I was told that I should get it copyrighted. Each time my answer has been the same.

I do not know the intricacies of doing this. If someone here is capable of doing this for the benefit of the club they should do it and let me know what I need to do to get it in our name.

As in... "Here is the paperwork Bill, mail it in and you're good to go." Yes, really, it has to be that simple for me... No, don't worry, I can handle the licking of the stamp part too.

The people who have asked/told me about this are well meaning and have even offered to help... So far the offering hasn't translated into the happening part... So, nothing has become of it. I will let it sit unless someone is serious about following thru on it.

quote:

...it was never renewed and is now in the public domain.

FWIW: Trivia from Indiana Secty of State's website:

RE: Barth Inc.
P.O. Box 768, Milford IN
Created: 4/5/1968
Inactive: 2/25/1997
Status: Administratively Dissolved

RE: Barth RSV Inc.
P.O. Box 737, Milford, IN
Created: 3/24/1995
Inactive: 1/8/2001
Status: Administratively Dissolved

The 1995-1997 overlap in corporate names may indicate legal efforts to stay alive
when things were apparantly starting to melt down.......

Sidebar: Barth was also fighting property tax assessments as late as 1999: (They lost....)

www.in.gov/judiciary/opinions/...wpd/10160101.tgf.doc -

quote:

Originally posted by Lee:
...it was never renewed and is now in the public domain.
FWIW: Trivia from Indiana Secty of State's website:
RE: Barth Inc.
Status: Administratively Dissolved
RE: Barth RSV Inc.
Status: Administratively Dissolved

FYI ... Just because a legal entity, such as a corporation is dissolved does not necessarily mean that the NAME or NAMES are back in the public domain. I was the managing partner of a printing company in the 90's which was dissolved a few years after I sold my interest, however, I and another partner owned the TRADE NAME which survived the dissolution of the company itself. As long as we paid the $50 renewal fee every five - seven years we could keep the name forever, even though the business was long gone.

It wouldn't hurt to check with the Sec. of State in Indiana to see if the TRADE NAME or DBA is in the Public Domain. The easiest way to find out is to call the Sec of State, Corporate Division and ask to register the name BARTH, BARTHMOBILE, BARTHHMOBILE.COM, BARTHERS and any other name you can think of.
It would save potential lawsuits if an INDIVIDUAL or GROUP OF INDIVIDUALS (i.e. Bill, NY, Tere & Mary Ray) owned the name vs. having a corporation own the name. If the TRADE NAME is a corporate asset (i.e. if owned by Barthmobile.com)it dies with the corporation unless purchased from the bankrupt's estate. If individuals own it, then the ownership of the trade name(s) survives the death of the organization. Ownership by one person gives total control of the name to that one individual but ownership by 2 or more people (3 is plenty) keeps the name alive and requires unanimous consent of all parties to sell, dissolve or modify the trade name.

Sorry for the long dissertation but I thought that it was important to clarify the difference between the dissolution of a company and the ownership of a trade name.

Carl Feren

P.S. It would also be a good idea to see if the registered rademarks and copyrights for the various Barth Logos have expired. I understand that the registration of a trademark or copyright is good for 17 years. They have probably expired but it wouldn't hurt to check with the US Govt trademarks & copyrights division.

Carl Feren

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