Arny Krueger wrote:
"Michael McKelvy" wrote in message
ink.net

"Clyde Slick" wrote in message
...

"Michael McKelvy" wrote in message
ink.net...

"Arny Krueger" wrote in message
...

Monster Cable seems to be trying to remove the word Monster from
common, casual usage:


http://www.denverpost.com/Stories/0,...611825,00.html

"The Brisbane, Calif.-based company has filed trademark lawsuits
across the country against companies using the word "monster."
Discovery Channel has felt Monster's wrath for its show "Monster
Garage." Bally Gaming is under Monster's glare because of its
Monster slot machine. Monster sued Walt Disney Co., maker of the
animated flick "Monsters, Inc." Even the Chicago Bears, a.k.a.
"The Monsters of the Midway," once were eyed by Monster."

It's stupid, but they have to defend their trademark or risk
losing
it.

The stupidity started when they tried to make a single common English
word
into a trademark.

Nah, This is common practice.



In the past people have used trademarks that were proper nouns or
names
(e.g. Bose), made-up words (e.g. Frigidare), or phrases (e.g. Big
Mac) for
their trademarks. This can work, particularly if the trademark is
agressively protected by ongoing vigillance and legal action.

There are plenty of common words used as trademarks.



Now, Monster Cable wants to sieze a common word, and make it their
trademark.

Well, they have.


Hopefully, they will be rewarded with the humiliation and
derision that they deserve on a number of levels.

Hopefully. But not for using Monster as a trade mark. Their problem is
thinking that trademarks prevent others from using a common word in
unrelated areas. If another cable company started using Monster as a
trade mark then they would have a legitimate gripe.



Anyways, Mikey, you are saying that anyone can incorporate
a common word in the English language into a corporate name,
then trademark the corporate name, and then somehow, they 'own'
the common English word. Ridiculous!

Of course it is, that's why I didn't say it.

Agreed. Now Mike, you are talking about Art's stupidity, which is as
pervasive in Art's life, as stupidity is pervasive in the life of
Monster
Cable..

They are being stupid in this case. I'm not sure thay have been stupid
all along. They do seem to be a fairly successful business. That
usually takes some smarts.



You have proven yourself to be an idiot yet again.

Yes, Art proves himself to be an idiot on an ongoing basis.

You've proven once again that you can take what I say and ascribe
your own meaning to it.

Exactly. In the case of Art, the meaning is almost always idiotic and

self-contrdictory.

Oh, I remember just a few days ago you said
that when you make a mistake, you will freely
admit it. Here is your chance!!!!

3rd times a charm?

It's similar to the way McDonald's takes people to court for using
names like one motel chain did when they tried to use the name
McSleep, or the way Bose takes people to court if they build a 6th
order bandpass subwoofer without permission from them.

The difference is that in these cases there were more-or-less unique,
or at
least uncommon entities. Monster is common word.

That isn't the difference or the issue. Trade marks cases depend on
whether or not the usage of a word or phrase that is believed to be
trademarked will create confusion in the market place. Trade mrks are
there to protect brand identification, that is all.





Yes, Monster is trying to take a common word and they are going to
far with it. But as I understand trademarks, if you have one,
particularly a well known one, you are obliged to try and keep
others
from using it and diminishing or removing it's recognition.

Monster might pull it off, but it will probably be at a considerable
expense.

I would be surprised if they win in court. No one else I know of is
making cables or any audio product and calling it monster.

Further more, as this Denver Post article shows, they will receive
a certain amount of public derision and humiliation for their
efforts.

As they should.



I never implied or tried to imply that what Monster was doing was
sensible
or
that they should prevail, I was simply trying to give a reason for
why they would be doing it.

Agreed. Art wakes up every morning thinking that he's smart, so we
have to
bear with his ongoing dumb-ass pseudo-intellectual escapades. Maybe
if we
all pooled our money together, we could buy or rent Art a clue! Art
is like
Dormer, Phillips, and Richman; he's a Middius dupe. To join the
Middius
clique, Middius dupes have to sacrifice what little is left of their
minds
so that they can be subservient to their know-nothing grand master or
idiocy, George Middius.

Get a life.


Scott Wheeler