Monster Cable Sues Baby Clothing Store MonsterRepublic.com

[TRT]

They were finished with me after the mini-golf incident. They are finished with me at this point as a vendor.

 

[MinusTheBear]

The only way to get rid of a bully from taking your lunch money is to stand your ground. It is nice to see companies not rolling over in submission anymore against these hooligans.

 

[Audioholics]

We discuss this on the latest AVRant podcast. You can listen here.

Basically the more they sue, the more their blanket trademark for the word "Monster" is in jeopardy. It will only take one good countersuit (and a reasonable judge) to remove their exclusive rights to that word and reverse the trademark license. The question is who wants to go through the trouble?

 

[rnatalli]

This has to be one of the stupidest things I've heard yet. What's next? The Bush Administration suing people for using the word "Republic" in anything.

 

[MinusTheBear]

The question is who wants to go through the trouble?

There is one person here that I would think would have the balls to do that!

 

[KurtBJC]

Hmmm...why are my ears burning?

Kurt
Blue Jeans Cable

 

[monsterrepublic]

Big thanks to corysmith01 for making people more aware. If other people could vote at the link at Digg.com that would help the cause. Albert/Monster Republic

 

[monsterrepublic]

Kurt offered some great advice and I'm definitely better prepared to take on Monster Thug

 

[monsterrepublic]

Thank You Audioholics!!!

Hi Audioholics,

All your supportive comments are very heartening & a huge morale booster to know that the little guy is not alone. I have to give a big thank you to Gene for taking the time to highlight my company's plight and shining the light of truth on the ugly corporate behavior of Monster Cable. Another big thanks to Kurt at Blue Jeans Cable for giving me some great advice on fighting Monster Cable.

I am in the process of putting together a letter writing campaign to let Monster Cable's Noel Lee & all his stooges know that there are consequences in continuing this nasty & thuggish behavior. If you would like me to send you the email telling Monster Cable's Noel Lee this goon-like corporate behavior is unacceptable, please email me at:

albert@monsterrepublic.com

If anyone does have the valid email address for Noel Lee (CEO) & David Tognotti (General Counsel), please email me.

Please go to Digg.com & vote for the Audioholics editorial so we can get more people to know about Monster Thugs:

http://digg.com/tech_news/Monster_Cable_sues_another_small_company_Again

Thank you corysmith01 for listing the editorial at Digg.

Last but not least, if folks out there have an article about Noel Lee, describing how he originally came up with the name "Monster" describing how his stereo cable as a big or overly large cable compared to other cables on the market at the time, this will help in my defense against Monster Cable.

Best regards,

Albert Lee
Monster Republic

 

[majorloser]

Screw the Monster

 

[mtrycrafts]

If anyone does have the valid email address for Noel Lee (CEO) & David Tognotti (General Counsel), please email me.
Albert Lee
Monster Republic

Hope there is no connection between the two Lee's
Don't give up the ship, Albert!

 

[hopjohn]

Just a very few of Monster Victims:

Systemax Inc.
Ultra Products Inc.
Monster Sound LLC
Timex Corp. (Yes, the watch company)
Accel Corp.
Cables Unlimited
Bizlink USA Technology
AudioVox (Audiovox counters)
Monster Mini Golf
Blue Jeans Cable
MonsterVintage
Kurt Denke Interview on the issue (Blue Jeans Cable)
Beyond Micro
Xtreme Accessories LLC
Dealtree
Monster Pod Technology

Here are other companies that have been reported by news sources though I cannot find specific threads for them.

Hansen Beverage Company (Monster Energy Drink)
Disney Pixar (Monster Inc. movie)
Chicago Bears ("Monsters of the Midway")
Boston Red Sox ("Monster Concessions" area at Fenway Park)
MonsterPuppets.com

 

[hopjohn]

Hi Audioholics,

Last but not least, if folks out there have an article about Noel Lee, describing how he originally came up with the name "Monster" describing how his stereo cable as a big or overly large cable compared to other cables on the market at the time, this will help in my defense against Monster Cable.

Best regards,

Albert Lee
Monster Republic

Here's an interview he did a few years ago with Red Herring where he discusses that briefly.

Q. Does the “Monster” brand sell the cables, or do the cables define the brand?

A. I think the name helped the product in the early days because it was a memorable name. In those days, nobody used “monster” for a product or a company.

Our cables were big, and the sound was powerful, so we wanted to give them a name that would personify the cable and also give the customer an idea of what he might expect in sound quality. It probably took 10 years to build brand-name recognition for Monster.

Now, it’s almost the name of fashion—you can’t think of a name for your company or your product? Call it monster-something. I think we had something to do with that.

 

[monsterrepublic]

This helps, Big Thanks!

 

[AVTguy]

Children's Fashion Couture Vs. Big Box Store Cables

This story has been fascinating. For those of us that have been following Monster Cable's exploits for the past few years, I think I can take the liberty of calling their latest bit of antics "entertaining."

Monster Cable, you're taking on children's "street fashion"? Really? You guys are really going THERE!?!? Do you think that you might be losing potential brand loyalty to a bunch of 5 year olds wearing over-the-top dinosaur styled t-shirts?? Does the Monster Cable company really think that the parents of these "Ed Hardy" style Stegosaurus-clad toddlers care what kind of interconnects they have in their home theaters??

If a Mother is buying her child boutique class "street couture," does Monster Cable really think that she shops around between Best Buy and Circuit City, deciding which brand of HDMI cable she should get for her recent AVR and Blu-Ray purchase??? Lets be real here Monster. You guys are not losing market share or brand identity to a bunch of whining 5 year olds who have to go shopping with their mothers (cuz that's who buys children's clothing, at least I know it was when I was a kid).

I've got an idea. Hey Monster Cable, how about you come out with a better packaging system (so it doesn't take a chainsaw to open up your stuff), and a much more straight forward cable ranking system. Who the hell knows (other than us audioholics) what the difference is between your 400, 500, 600, 700, 800, 900, and 1000 grade cables, other than the fact that Circuit city caries the Odd numbers, and Best buy carries the Even ones!!!!

 

[mtrycrafts]

I think I can take the liberty of calling their latest bit of antics "entertaining."

!!

Good post, but while you find this entertaining, I doubt Monsterrepublic finds it entertaining
Interesting that the cable company wants to own the word 'monster.'
Perhaps, next they will go after books and want a bookburning.

 

[Strength]

I don't understand how monster cable thinks they can win these cases? If it dealt with electronic equipment, sure, I see it, but for anything else, it's ridiculous. Monster Cable claims to have some apparel company....what is it? has anyone heard or worn their shirts?!

What they are doing is pathetic. They have no regard for anyone else, putting people out of business by racking up their legal fees and then trying to get a liscencing fee plus percentage of the profit or revenue. Why is nobody doing anything about this bully?

You can't even have a movie called "Monsters" even if it is about Monsters?? This is stupid on so many levels. Monsters is a generic word used to describe, well, monsters.

 

[mtrycrafts]

I don't understand how monster cable thinks they can win these cases? If it dealt with electronic equipment, sure, I see it, but for anything else, it's ridiculous. Monster Cable claims to have some apparel company....what is it? has anyone heard or worn their shirts?!

What they are doing is pathetic. They have no regard for anyone else, putting people out of business by racking up their legal fees and then trying to get a liscencing fee plus percentage of the profit or revenue. Why is nobody doing anything about this bully?

You can't even have a movie called "Monsters" even if it is about Monsters?? This is stupid on so many levels. Monsters is a generic word used to describe, well, monsters.

They don't expect to win them all, only to intimidate the small companies to submit, sign some agreement and pay a fee.

 

[Strength]

That's what I thought.

I thought there were laws in the U.S. that stopped large companies from doing these kind of frivolous lawsuits.

 

[Audioholics]

That's what I thought.

I thought there were laws in the U.S. that stopped large companies from doing these kind of frivolous lawsuits.

I could sue you for saying that... so, no. Certain (a lot of) judges in this country have allowed so many frivolous lawsuits to proceed instead of throwing them out due to common sense that the case law is filled with them now - many successful due to technicalities, legal minutia, etc.