Monster Cable’s Trademark Case: Monster Pathetic
Some months back, the Monster Cable company (not to be confused with Monster.com) filed a suit against Monster Mini Golf of Rhode Island. It seems that Monster Cable (not to be confused with Monster Energy Drinks) felt that the public would become catastrophically confused between “stereo cables” and a “chain of glow-in-the-dark wicked-cool mini-golf courses in New England.”
Monster Cable (not to be confused with Pixar’s “Monsters, Inc.”) seems to have a track record of frivolous suits (e.g. Monster Sound Recording, Monster Vintage clothing and Blue Jeans Cable.)
However, Monster Cable (not to be confused with Monster Trucks) has decided to drop its suit. In a post-settlement letter sent to the owners of Monster Mini Golf by Noel Lee, founder of Monster Cable (not to be confused with Cookie Monster):
“I will say that this is a landmark kind of situation, as public opinion wins over what is the right thing to do for trademark protection of a famous mark. We have made the decision that public opinion, and that of our valued customers is more important than the letter of the law that requires us to prevent the dilution of our mark and risk losing it.”
Such a load of manure. Clearly, no company would cede a vital corporate asset for “public opinion.” This pathetic face-saving measure by Monster Cable (not to be confused with Monster Park in San Francisco) simply underscores the need for some first-line-of-defense against frivolous lawsuits. I don’t know, maybe the legal equivalent to the Green Monster at Fenway?
The future of digital experiences will be built by strategists who grasp the full array of emerging business, social, and technical models. Specialties in user experience, branding, application design, and data science are laying the foundation for richer user experiences and business models breakthrough products and revenue based marketing.
Comments are closed.