Can We Send A Moron In A Hurry With A Mini Golf Club Over To Monster Cable?
from the monster-monster-monster-monster-monster dept
The company Monster Cable has a rather infamous reputation for way too aggressively trying to enforce its trademark on the word "monster." It's sued or threatened just about everyone, including the TV show Monster Garage, a clothing store called MonsterVintage, Disney for the movie Monsters, Inc., the makers of Monster Energy drink, the Chicago Bears for having the nickname "Monsters of the Midway," and the Boston Red Sox for offering "Monster seats" on top of their famous "Green Monster" wall. The latest, sent in by reader Ben S., is that the target is now Monster Mini Golf in California.Now, because this always comes up in the comments on posts like this, let's address the key point that people always bring up, claiming that Monster "has to" enforce its trademark or face the mark becoming generic (like aspirin, kleenex or band-aids). That's not quite true. It is true that you have to enforce the mark -- but only in cases where it's likely to confuse people or dilute your mark in the area it's designed for. A trademark does not give you total control over the word. It is not designed as a "property right" but really as a consumer protection statute, to prevent people from getting confused and believing that one company or product is sponsoring another. That's why we have the lovely "moron in a hurry" test. If a moron in a hurry wouldn't be confused, then there's no violation. And I have a hard time believing that any moron (even one in a hurry) would see a mini-golf course and assume that it's associated with the company that makes ridiculously expensive tv cables.
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Filed Under: mini golf, monster, trademark
Companies: monster, monster cable, monster mini golf
Reader Comments
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Universal should sue
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Re:
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Let it go to court
I still have his response to Monster saved on my computer. Classic!
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Don't forget Monster.com
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See you in court.
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oxygen free
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Perhaps Moster...
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So can I
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Wait!
Oh.
Sorry, Jack.
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Now the question needs to be, does Monster Cable just trademark names with the work "monster" in it, or do they actually USE these trademarked names. Is there really a physical monster park?
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well, just maybe...
the lines are getting blurred.
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Why would Monster Cable need a moron to hurry over?
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Some kind of monster
They could share the "monter" epithet, and team up suing everybody.
Gotta rush on to the Morons' convent now...
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Obligitory Monster Definition
MONSTER-
A person referred to as a monster is taken as exceptionally evil, grotesque, unreasonably strict and uncaring, sociopathic, and/or sadistic. The word monster connotes something wrong/evil; e.g.: a monstruous being is: very morally objectionable, physically or psychologically hideous, or a biological sport (a distinct sense of the word), i.e a freak of nature.
...Sounds like Monster Cable to me!
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boo on monster cable
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Perfectly rational
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everyone is sue happy
Or maybe just maybe lower them enough so more people will buy their cable and they can make up for the lower price in higher volume.
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Pathetic - I'll keep this in mind when I buy cables. They are more hype than anything. Component video - using cheap cables - works just as well as my HDMI connection on my TV - if not better.
Actually the HDMI got some 'stutters' in the sound - the component audio/video does not. And the 5 dollar cables work perfectly.
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confused - at first
Finally I realized it read "moron" and not "mormon". I guess I must belong to the first group.
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Thanks
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comment on artical
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Oh My God!
We agree.
While I am sure that many other practitioners would disagree, trademark law is all about "customer confusion", quite unlike the underlying bases for patent and copyright law. Trademarks, like trade secrets, do not fit in some nice cubbyhole entitled "property".
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Moron in a hurry
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Did they patent the word Monster?
The word is used to show strength of something. You would see Monster Rides as being a whole lot more fun than Bug Rides or Small Rides. Monster cables use the word Monster show their cables are great. I wonder if they where named Great Cables would they sue everyone that used Great in there names.
They ought to focus on making quality cables and get real. Monster is a generic word and we should be free to use it in any context we see fit as long as it does not clearly sound as if it where related to an existing competing company. It is clear that "Monster Cables" and "Monster Mini Golf in California" are not related.
I imagine the Board of Directors (BOD) have little on their plates and this may be a perfect example of table politics that go on in corporations with BODs. Most are not experienced in broad fields. Likely to be specialist in one or another. Possibly accounting degrees and psychology. Not economy and logic necessarily.
Another idea is they may just be morons !-)
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Blue Jean Cables Are Better
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Compensation
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And we don't need to worry about the "moron in a hurry" test they all appear to work for Monster Cable.
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I Just called Monster Cable's Customer Service...
They were not amuzered.
Monster Cable's Customer Service: 877 800-8989
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Sue our kids too?
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Re: Let it go to court
As the saying goes, the Lord works in mysterious ways. I suppose if I was religious I would've affirmed my faith but for now I'll just have to settle for "net gain of Karma" I suppose.
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Monster Ripoff...
Went home, Amazon 12' digital optical cable... $4.99.
Its nothing but freaking plastic, it doesn't need to be shielded, it doesn't need gold connectors (or any metal of any kind for that matter...) How the FCUK can you justify charging $79.99 for a FCUKing plastic cord?!?!
If we send anyone to Monster with a mini-golf club they should be sent there to KICK SOME ASS and express my sense of moral outrage!
/rant
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We are trying to sue them for years........
Can any of you humans sympathetic to us monsters help us???
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We'll Always Have Morons...
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Re:
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Re:
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Re: We'll Always Have Morons...
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Monstershit
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It's Pretty Funny
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Re:
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Monster Cable
And also, Band-aid was once a specific products name? I thought it has always been the generic term, forever, not that it originated from a single company, like aspirin. Doh!
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In defence of Monster
They also make computer cables.
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Mah...
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Monster so good at being bad
On the other hand, I recognize them for their dogged persistence. They are BS slinging asshats who profit from distortion, but they are so GOOD at slinging the BS and they've achieved and sustained such market penetration... you gotta sort of admire somebody who's so good at being bad!
There's an old saying: "You can't trust to be wrong all the time". Well, in Monster's case, you can trust; they will ALWAYS be the wrong choice. In that way, they make it easier to shop in a big store with lots of choices; just ignore all the Monster stuff and decide between the rest!
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Monster
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Me Too!
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monster
I am aware of your concerns regarding the lawsuit that we filed against Monster Mini Golf, a Rhode Island-based company that franchises miniature golf establishments across the U.S. (currently 24 locations). Suffice to say we take this lawsuit very seriously and filed only as a necessary measure to protect our established trademark rights.
Regardless of what false representations have been circulated about Monster, we are not a faceless corporate giant out to squash legitimate business concerns and rising entrepreneurs. We are in fact, a family-owned company that relies heavily on our brand name and reputation in order to continue serving our customers. We have always tried to provide our customers with the highest performance products at an affordable price. While we are best known for our cable products, we also manufacture high performance accessories in business areas ranging in home theater, computing, gaming, portable entertainment and power management. To protect these business areas, we have sought and been awarded trademarks for each respective category. In addition to the areas above, in the past 30 years, we have also expanded the categories including sports and other lifestyle ventures. According to the trademark law, we must enforce our marks or we will lose them and they will become generic.
We were trying our best to avoid the lawsuit, and we are trying our best to settle the lawsuit.
We appreciate your viewpoints and hope you will review the attached documents to fully understand the facts before making judgments against myself or my company.
http://www.monstercable.com/monster_truth
Monsterously,
Noel Lee
nlee@monstercable.com
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Public Proposal to Monster Mini Golf
The internet has changed how companies like us can defend our brand and prevent the dilution of our trademarks by those who choose to infringe on them. By appealing to consumers’ emotions using mis-information and distorted truths has created a different dynamic to patent and trademark protection. The sentiment of our customers wins over our rights to protect the brand. Monster Mini Golf is attempting to trademark “Monster”, Monster Mini Golf, and Monster Entertainment in areas that we already own, so we had no choice to file a lawsuit, or otherwise suffer dilution of our mark and potential loss of the mark itself.
It’s costly to sue anyone, no one wants to do it. We have made many attempts to avoid this lawsuit by offering a simple and low cost license agreement that would allow us to protect our trademarks that we already own, and allow Monster Mini Golf to use the name for their business. They refused each time.
Through their attempts to disparage us as a greedy corporate bully, we have been wrongly portrayed as a company focused on squashing small business, when the opposite is true. We are also a small business, and have survived for 30 years. This lawsuit admittedly has caused so much misguided ill will amongst our customers, that we have no choice but to give up on it, and along with it our rights to have a judge or jury decide this conflict.
So we are publicly declaring;
1) Monster has filed papers with the Federal Court to dismiss the lawsuit against Monster Mini Golf as of Friday, December 12, 2009. We will let the trademark office decide when they review their trademark application.
2) Monster will still owns the trademarks granted by the trademark office for which we offer a license for the use of them to Monster Mini Golf for a minimal royalty of $100 per month per franchise. Monster (us) will donate and match the royalty proceeds to the following charities that Monster has supported.
The Elf foundation; Creating Rooms of Magic:
http://www.elfsystems.org/partners.html
Seg4Vets: Segways for disabled veterans
http://www.draft.cc/draft3/Donations/Benefactors/tabid/113/Default.aspx
Monster Mini Golf will then have the ability to use and franchise the “monster” trademark and continue with their business, and we will have continued protection. This will save thousands of dollars in attorneys’ fees and the court’s time. Everyone wins.
This lawsuit was never about the money, our requests were always minimal. It’s about the protection of our trademarks. It’s unfortunate for anyone who owns a trademark or patent, that the wrongful and disparaging remarks of a few can inhibit companies like ours from pursuing our right to legal process.
In this country, lawsuits are a method to resolve differences of opinion. The courts resolve disputes thousands of time each day. It is not always the bad guy suing the good guy. It’s asking the court to hear the both sides and make a decision. A judge or a jury determines ones right to trademark ownership. We believe that we would win this case, or we never would have filed it. This is far from a frivolous lawsuit, we have the prior trademarks to prove it.
For all of those who have supported us during this attack on our integrity, we thank you for your support. We apologize to everyone who may have been affected by our lawsuit with Monster Mini-Golf. We apologize to our loyal customers who may have been negatively impacted and to our retailers whose customers may have been affected by mis-information. We are sorry for all of the ill-will that has been generated on both sides.
For 30 years, we have prided ourselves on making the highest performance products in everything that we do. We have millions of happy customers. With economic conditions as they are, we need to focus on our core business. We will just keep producing the great high quality products for all to enjoy and hopefully Monster Mini Golf will get what they want one way or the other.
Thanks for lending your ear,
Noel Lee
The Head Monster
Founder and Owner of Monster
http://www.monstercable.com/monster_truth
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