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Monster Cables Pushes Around the Wrong Small Company

Posted by Zonk on from the keeps-the-electricity-demons-out dept.

Alien54 writes "Audioholics has a fun read regarding a recent legal dustup involving Monster Cables. The well-known (some might say notorious) cabling company sent a cease and desist letter to Blue Jeans Cable over a supposed patent violation. What the Monster folks couldn't have known was that Blue Jeans president Kurt Denke used to be a lawyer. His response is as humorous as it is thorough. ' Let me begin by stating, without equivocation, that I have no interest whatsoever in infringing upon any intellectual property belonging to Monster Cable. Indeed, the less my customers think my products resemble Monster's, in form or in function, the better ... If there is more than one such connector design in actual use by Monster Cable as to which appropriation of trade dress is alleged, of course, I will require this information for each and every such design. On the basis of what I have seen, both in the USPTO documents you have sent and the actual appearance of Monster Cable connectors which I have observed in use in commerce, it does not appear to me that Monster Cable is in a position to advance a nonfrivolous claim for infringement of these marks.'"

8 of 572 comments (clear)

  1. Monster cable has been taking advantage... by Futurepower(R) · · Score: 5, Informative

    In my opinion, Monster cable has been taking advantage of the lack of technical knowledge of the general public to convince people to buy EXTREMELY expensive cables, when much cheaper cables would provide equal performance.

    Performance of audio systems is not heavily affected by cables, if only the size of the wires is adequate.

    1. Re:Monster cable has been taking advantage... by CRCulver · · Score: 5, Informative

      They might have had some (quickly rebutted) case in the analogue era, but with the digital era they are just outright cheating customers. You can get an HDMI cable for as low as 15 cents, but Monster continues to charge up towards $100 for theirs. Obviously with digital any cable is as good as another, because the system has error correction built into it and is not susceptible to distortion from nearby wiring.

      Still, on Usenet I've seen people who, probably because they already "invested" thousands of dollars in Monster Cables, placed so much trust in the company that they brought out arcane arguments that, yes, Monster digital interconnects are better than anything else on the market. After all, can't you hear how "brighter" and "warmer" the sound is once you've blown money on the interconnects?

    2. Re:Monster cable has been taking advantage... by Ariastis · · Score: 5, Informative

      No, they did it with a coat hanger (At the consumerist)

    3. Re:Monster cable has been taking advantage... by hudsonhawk · · Score: 5, Informative

      No, the Consumerist did no such thing. If you read the article, all the Consumerist did, in fact, was quote a 4 year old post by a random dude on an internet forum.

      That's hardly what I would call a reliable source of information, and yet people continue to perpetuate the mean as truth because it appeals to their pre-existing notions.

  2. Re:Monster Cable versus wire coat hangers by hudsonhawk · · Score: 5, Informative

    Did you in fact read the article you're posting?

    The Consumerist did no such comparison. Rather, a reader sent them a 4 year old post from a random dude on another forum, which the Consumerist quoted and posted, turning it into a popular Slashdot meme.

    Groupthink at work, gotta love it. The burden of proof is always non-existent when it backs up your pre-existing notions of truth.

  3. Re:The word "owned" comes to mind by vwjeff · · Score: 5, Informative

    "I assume that Monster Cable International, Ltd., in Bermuda, listed on these patents, is an IP holding company and that Monster Cable's principal US entity pays licensing fees to the Bermuda corporation in order to shift income out of the United States and thereby avoid paying United States federal income tax on those portions of its income;..."

    Wonderful. Monster Cable hates America!!!!

  4. Re:The word "owned" comes to mind by jedidiah · · Score: 5, Informative

    When considering Tax issues, just keep in mind this little nugget of trivia...

    Tax law is the only area of the law where a lawyer is expected to obtain
    a speciality post doctorate degree (that is another advanced degree above
    and beyond the usual JD) just so that you can be considered qualified to
    START practicing in it.

    --
    A Pirate and a Puritan look the same on a balance sheet.
  5. Re:The word "owned" comes to mind by Achromatic1978 · · Score: 5, Informative
    You missed his point - indeed, it took me a while to realize. There is nothing wrong with it, it is legal if it meets the definition of a bona fide arms-length setup.

    But, but it wasn't Monster Cable International, Ltd, that issued him with the letter and claim. It was Monster in the US, so keen to litigate that they did something they had no onus to do ("on behalf of") - they completely forgot that their corporate shell game had given the patents to a company in Bermuda, and that they had no right to claim patent infringement when they weren't the patent owners.

    More clear now?

    "That, that's not ours! We don't have to pay tax on it! Oh, wait, you're using this thing of ... uh ... not ours ... and we ... uh ... they ... can't have that!"