In The Beginning
The Iron Warriors Motorcycle Club (IWMC), first named the Wild Pigs Motorcycle Club (WPMC), began in 1987 in the San Jose, California
area, by police officers who owned Harley Davidson motorcycles, and who
loved to ride with like-minded people. The WPMC offered membership to
active and retired law enforcement officers and firefighters. The Iron
Warriors continues this tradition of membership to active and retired law enforcement officers and firefighters, who own and ride V-twin motorcycles made by American-owned companies.
The Iron Warriors Motorcycle Club is a non-profit organization
dedicated to providing assistance and support to our communities,
departments, families and members. The IWMC membership contributes much
of its free time toward the efforts of raising money to support the
families of Fallen Police Officers and/or Firefighters. The IWMC
additionally supports our Veterans of the military, regardless the
branch they served, as they have sacrificed much, some all, for us all
to have our cherished FREEDOMS.
The IWMC generosity is not limited to Law Enforcement, Firefighters or
Veterans. Individual chapters will routinely seek out those struggles
within their community, to show support and express their gratitude for
the support given to them by our communities.
The Transition from WPMC to IWMC
In 1991, when the WPMC was just three chapters in California and one in Connecticut, the San Jose
chapter divided and was falling apart due to infighting and
divisiveness on the part of a few individuals. A significant cause of
the dissention was due to some members wanting to grow, while others
feared growth and possibly losing total control of the club. At a time
when some were trying to mend the rifts and develop club bylaws which
would satisfy the needs of the club as a whole, two San Jose members,
who labeled themselves “R & R Enterprises”, secretively filed a
trademark application for the name and logo of the WPMC. This was done
without the knowledge or approval of any chapter board in existence at
the time. After some time had passed and the WPMC had grown, the actions
of R&R Enterprises were finally recognized and the real threat it
was. Legal action was filed on behalf of the WPMC with the Trademark
Commission to try to prevent R&R from gaining trademark rights. The
existing WPMC chapters and regional boards subsequently terminated the San Jose chapter’s charter and the chapter essentially ceased to exist.
The club won a court victory in California,
preventing R&R Enterprises from incorporating as the WPMC, which
they had also attempted illegally. The favorable California Superior
Court decision, ruling R&R Enterprises incorporation as illegal, was
forwarded to the U.S. Trademark Commission. The Trademark Commission
after a lengthy delay, elected to award the trademark to R&R based
on the “late” filing of the original complaint.
The Regional
Boards upon learning the decision approached the membership with several
options. One was to buy the trademark rights from R&R, this option
was rejected after R&R disclosed they didn’t want to sell the
trademark and in fact wanted to have complete and sole control of the
club. Another option was to continue utilizing the Wild Pigs logo and
disregard R&R all together, challenging them in court on a case by
case bases. This was rejected due to potential court costs to the
chapters and regions. The last option was to rename the club which
involved several names and logos presented to the membership for a vote.
This process took several months and unfortunately some members wanted
to follow the name they had created, such as the “Renegade Pigs” in the
east, others became frustrated with the process and the time it took,
moving onto other clubs, but many stuck it out and the Iron Warriors
name and logo was voted on and is now worn by members of 36 chapters in 16 States.
Additional information is located in our chapter’s membership package, available to interested, qualified individuals.
email: iwmcnation@gmail.com