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$30K Worth of Multimeters Must Be Destroyed Because They're Yellow
An anonymous reader points out a post at the blog of Sparkfun, a hobbyist electronics retailer. They recently received a letter from U.S. Customs saying a shipment of 2,000 multimeters was being barred from entry into the country. The reason? Trademark law. A company named Fluke holds a trademark on multimeters that have a 'contrasting yellow border.' Sparkfun's multimeters are a yellowish orange, but it was enough for Customs to stop the shipment. Returning the shipment is not an option because of import taxes in China, so the multimeters must now be destroyed. At $15 per item, it'll cost Sparkfun $30,000, plus the $150/hr fee for destroying them. Sparkfun had no idea about the trademark, and doesn't mind changing the color, but they say restrictions like these are a flaw in the trademark system. "Small business does not have the resources to stay abreast of all trademarks for all the products they don't carry. If you’re going to put the onus on the little guy to avoid infringing IP then you shouldn't need an army of consultants or attorneys to find this information."
I do not see a net harm to society here..
$30,000 is not comparable to the harm that could be done when a technitian reaches for his trusted Fluke multimeter and grabs this POS imposter in its place.
I gotta agree. The thing looks *exactly* like a Fluke multimeter. Exact same color, exact same appearance. Typical Chinese knockoff--I'm amazed they thought they could get away with it.
And it has numbers on it just like a Fluke. Plus, it exists in three dimensions, the same way a Fluke does. Are you kidding me? And they even tried to fool people, but putting a brand name other than Fluke" on it, which shows they're trying to rip off Fluke, because a Fluke has a brand name on it too.
MUST DESTROY!!
You are welcome on my lawn.
Mine is yellow,
You don't understand. The claim was that yellow was used for "identification". The fact that your meter is yellow is nice, but it doesn't mean that yellow stands for "multimeter". You don't identify an object as a multimeter by seeing yellow. In my immediate line of sight at this moment I see a yellow screwdriver, a yellow highlighter, several yellow books, a yellow pad of paper, some yellow wire, yellow feet on my penguin, and yellow printing on a calendar. The closest multimeter is orange. "Yellow" is not an identifying color for meters.
What possible safety function does coloring a multimeter yellow serve?
Being easy to find.
A meter "being easy to find" is not a safety function.