{"id":5341,"date":"2009-04-06T00:09:58","date_gmt":"2009-04-05T23:09:58","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.corporate-eye.com\/?p=5341"},"modified":"2009-04-05T15:22:11","modified_gmt":"2009-04-05T14:22:11","slug":"monster-battle-for-a-monster-trademark","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.corporate-eye.com\/main\/monster-battle-for-a-monster-trademark\/","title":{"rendered":"Monster Battle for a Monster Trademark"},"content":{"rendered":"

Let me preface this post by saying I’m a strong advocate of protecting your brand and your trademarks.\u00a0 However, there comes a time when a company can go overboard in its efforts.\u00a0 Enter Monster Cable Products Inc.<\/a>, a California-based audio, video and computer cable manufacturer.<\/p>\n

Monster Cable Products Inc. owns 70 trademarks related to its brand, and fights anyone and everyone who even thinks about using the word Monster.\u00a0 Not even Monster.com (who had to pay Monster Cable Product Inc.’s legal fees and include a link on their job search site that says “are you looking for Monster Cable?”)\u00a0or Disney and Pixar (for the movie title\u00a0– Monsters, Inc.) were safe from the trademark violation and litigation wrath of Monster Cable Products Inc.\u00a0 Even the Boston Red Sox were targeted by Monster Cable Products Inc. when they tried to use the word monster in naming hot dogs and certain seats in Fenway Park, and the Discovery Channel was called out for naming a television show Monster Garage<\/em>.\u00a0\u00a0Even Energizer was attacked for using the name Monster Powercells for its alkaline batteries.<\/p>\n

Other products that had to give up the use of the Monster name at the hands of Monster Cable Products Inc.’s lawyers include an energy drink,\u00a0carpet cleaning machines, auto transmissions, slot machines,\u00a0a vintage clothing company, and kids’ T-shirts with the phrase “Junk Food Monster” on them to promote healthy eating in kids.\u00a0 More recently, Christina and Patrick Vitagliano were sued by Monster Cable Products Inc. for $80,000 and immediate cessation of using the name Monster Mini Golf for their new miniature golf business.<\/p>\n

According to an article in The Wall Street Journal<\/em>, Monster Cable Products Inc. has won or successfully settled many of the very long list of lawsuits related to the protection of its trademarks citing “confusion in the marketplace”\u00a0(the company claims it has fought about 190 battles with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office and filed about 30 lawsuits in federal court).\u00a0<\/p>\n

The result for Monster Cable Products Inc.?\u00a0 A lot of bad publicity and a word, Monster,\u00a0that consumers still don’t connect to the California company but that the founder, Noel Lee, believes has owned the status of “famous mark” for the company akin to Camel cigarettes.\u00a0 Are you buying it?<\/p>\n

Following are a few examples of what overactive trademark protection brought to Monster Cable Products Inc.\u00a0 Keep in mind, despite the bad press, company founder Noel Lee, whose formal title, Head Monster, seems appropriate, does not plan to change the companies policy of protecting its trademarks vigilantly.<\/p>\n