Slashdot Mirror
$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."
Did Fluke actually request this? Or did Customs do this of their own volition?
If it's the latter, Fluke should step up and allow them to make a one time exception for this shipment. It would generate considerably goodwill for the company and show that they're not bullies keeping the little guy down.
If they DID request this, then fuck them all with a chainsaw, seriously.
I dream of starting a company that can innovate with new products. But I suspect the reality would be a nightmare of lawyers and hassles instead.
SJW's don't eliminate discrimination. They just expropriate it for themselves.
Those look a LOT like a Fluke multimeter, in more ways then just the color. I find it hard to believe that isn't intentional.
"Have you ever thought about just turning off the TV, sitting down with your kids, and hitting them?"
Ask Apple how you can trademark rounded corners. I'm sure they have lots of insight on this.
I've trademarked black writing on a white background. Please destroy any materials that infringe on my IP
Ok, you can't send em back, and the gov't says they aren't legal here. Why not a third destination?
Those people who think they know everything are a great annoyance to those of us who do. (Isaac Asimov)
Schools are struggling to find the funds to replace textbooks, let alone put their hands on some good hardware like this, and we can't find some way to donate this hardware instead of destroying it? Who cares if the legal document states that no one over the age of 18 is allowed to posses it, at least let someone get some use out of it.
Talk about stupid.
Sorry, I like SparkFun and all but this does look a lot like Fluke industrial design. Ok so the colour isn't EXACTLY the same shade of yellow, but if you removed the branding from it and asked somebody what brand it looks like they'll say Fluke assuming they've poked around the market any or are in the industry. Granted it would be cool of Fluke saying something like "OK This ONE time" since SparkFun is all about hobbyists who might eventually become Fluke customers. SparkFun should have thought of this before ordering a container full of them, pleading ignorance that your multimeter is DAMN CLOSE to somebody else's product and not expect trouble is dubious at best. It looks a lot like a Fluke 17b with out the buttons.
Any "hobbyist electronics retailer" attempting to sell a multimeter in the US knows -- or should know -- what a Fluke multimeter looks like, and any businessman or businesswoman knows -- or should know -- that there will be problems trying to sell a product that looks like the product with a dominant share of the market.
Also, you don't need "an army of consultants or attorneys to find this information." Trademarks are freely available from the USPTO web site, in searchable form. Anybody can look them up.
Finally, most business contracts between a manufacturer and a distributor will have an indemnification clause, in which the manufacturer warrants that the product has no intellectual property issues and, should a claim be made against the distributor, the costs associated with such claims will be borne by the manufacturer. If Sparkfun's contract for the Fluke knock-offs didn't have such a clause, I'm sure their standard contract will in the future.
I am holding in my hand at this very moment a grey faced yellow bodies multimeter which was made in china and sold at walmart. I guess laws only apply to the little guys.
-73, de n1ywb
www.n1ywb.com
This is indeed odd. From the actual document of the trademark owned by Fluke it specifically states: Color is not claimed as a feature of the mark. Either there is some other reason the items are being refused entry or Fluke is falsely claiming a trademark infraction, at least if it is because a similar color yellow was used.
Besides, isn't it up to the courts to determine trademark violations, not customs?
But most Americans born here grew up with more honest set of retailers, more honest wholesalers, reasonably effective enforcement, they have not had this cheap imitation knock off problem. The worst you would see is the Walmart brand (Equate?) of nasal spray next to one made by J&J. If you had never gone home and opened a package of Cynthol bar soap and find inside a foul smelling skin abrading cake of caustic alkali with Sinthol stamped on it, you have not been affected by these knock-offs. So all the power to customs agents to spot the cheap knock-offs and take suo moto action to knock the imitations off the planet.
sed -e 's/Chuck Norris/Rajnikant/g' joke > fact
Bullcrap. I have a Fluke meter. It wasn't cheap. This thing looks EXACTLY like it.
http://www.usitc.gov/publicati...
"* Certain Digital Multimeters, and Products with Multimeter Functionality
Investigation No. 337-TA-588
(Publication No. 4210; December 2010)"
from http://www.usitc.gov/intellect...
(Warning 162 page pdf)
Basically Fluke was a party behind the Trade investigation as to importations of comparable-appearing knockoffs.
I have no horse in this race; I don't use multimeters and couldn't care less who wins (although I tend to be a free-marketeer, generally). Imagegoogling for both, some of them look remarkably similar. I'd say the block was justified. If a bunch got through before the ban was enforced, that doesn't mean the ban was unjust or arbitrary.
-Styopa
But all the other meter makes have been using the same design for decades also. So how does one company get to claim it when it's an industry standard. Just check around and see how many other meters have the same colors. I checked Home Depot's and Lowes sites and found many.
-- ssoorrrryy,, dduupplleexx sswwiittcchh oonn.. -Quote found on actual fortune cookie.
Agreed, this is an attempt to copy Fluke's recent multimeter design.
It's not just yellow. It has the same color scheme, same display layout, similar fonts, same case taper as a real Fluke. Brand name in same location as is the model number and description. It was designed to look as much like a Fluke as possible.
If I saw the sparkfun multimeter sitting on a bench in my lab, I would think it was a Fluke until I got close.
Sparkfun knew this when they bought them. Their fault. If they did not know it was designed to imitate a Fluke, they are in the wrong business. "Other companies did it and did not get caught" does not make it right. They risked it anyway and lost. Complaining about the trademark is not the solution.