# What’s in a name? Not the first ‘Derby’… not the first ‘Derby Wheel’

*By Simon | April 2, 2024*

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![dwpanel](https://globalkeirin.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/dwpanel-jpg.webp)

## 󠀁[What’s in a name? Not the first ‘Derby’… not the first ‘Derby Wheel’](https://globalkeirin.com/2024/04/whats-in-a-name-the-challenge-of-choosing-and-establishing-a-new-identity/)󠁿

2 April 2024

One of the many challenges facing an organisation seeking to launch a whole new
sporting competition to a global audience, is choosing a suitable name. It needs
to be unclaimed. It needs to be memorable. It needs to work, and be easy to say,
in multiple languages.

The word Derby first became associated with races and racing in England in 1780,
with the first running of the Derby Stakes horse race, now known simply as The
Derby. Many countries now have a prestigious horse race named a Derby; and the
word has become associated with racing and sport more generally, covering
everything from ‘demolition derby’ motor races to the contact sport of roller
derby.

Derby was also used by Icederby, another initiative backed by DJ Hyun, which
proposed to bring the keirin cycling model to globalised speed-skating. Its
plans for game-changing prize money fuelled by gambling proceeds will sound very
familiar to those following the development of DerbyWheel. A
[test event](http://ice1.net/testrun) was held successfully in February 2020,
but plans were ultimately halted by Covid and the threat of lifetime bans by
skating’s world governing body, later ruled disproportionate by the European
Court of Justice.

Icederby International Co.,Ltd is listed as the
[owner of the derbywheel.com domain name](https://who.is/whois/derbywheel.com),
first registered in December 2021. The contact details noted on the domain
record reference the domain icederby.net, registered in 2007.

Wheel is often a poetic shorthand for bicycles. The Dutch word for bike racing
is _wielrennen_, literally ‘wheel running’; and many cycling clubs in
English-speaking countries use the name Wheelers.

The name [Derby Wheel](https://www.playngo.com/games/derby-wheel) (note the
space between) has been in use for several years by a horse racing-themed video
slot game presented by gambling operator
[Play’n GO](https://www.playngo.com/about-us), which describes itself as ‘one of
the largest entertainment suppliers of online slots to the worldwide casino
industry’.

![286639458_433152821658483_6737546397271100073_n](https://globalkeirin.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/286639458_433152821658483_6737546397271100073_n.jpg)

‘DERBY WHEEL’ is one of
[hundreds of trademarks](https://trademarks.ipo.gov.uk/ipo-tmowner/page/search?id=1704993&domain=1&app=0&mark=UK00003806349)
held by an associated company, Play’n GO Marks Ltd (Malta) covering the UK, USA
and European Union. Trademark applications must indicate the ‘class’ of product
or service to which they will relate: Play’n GO was granted a trademark under
Classes 9 (‘Electrical and Scientific Apparatus’) and 41 (‘Education and
Entertainment’) (
[PDF](https://tsdrsec.uspto.gov/ts/cd/pdfs?f=/BAS/2022/07/08/20220708122019874316-97494478-001_001/reg-5020216131-170303501_._EU_Reg_Cert_018664644.pdf)
). Class 41 covers gambling, online gaming _and_ the organisation of sports
competitions, so things might get complicated, but we aren’t trademark lawyers.

The biggest challenge of all might be the pronunciation. Does ‘derby’ rhyme with
Barbie, or Herbie? Given the word’s origins in the UK, you might expect the UK’s
preference for the former to win – but we notice the
[2022 promotional video](https://globalkeirin.com/2024/03/derbywheels-2022-promotional-video/)
opted for the latter.

**Categories:** Original
**Tags:** dwnews