http://hd.engadget.com/2008/05/26/monster-cable-at-it-again-sues-mini-golf-company/ Engadget HD Comments for Monster Cable at it again, sues mini-golf company http://hd.engadget.com/media/feedlogo.gif http://hd.engadget.com en-us Copyright 2009 Weblogs, Inc. The contents of this feed are available for non-commercial use only. Blogsmith http://www.blogsmith.com/http://hd.engadget.com/2008/05/26/monster-cable-at-it-again-sues-mini-golf-company/http://hd.engadget.com/2008/05/26/monster-cable-at-it-again-sues-mini-golf-company/
Monster Cabal
Monster Kabul

Bobby Picket of the Monster Mash song (recorded 1962) should sue Monster Cable (founded 1979) to give them a taste of their own medicine.]]>May 27th 2008 12:10AMhttp://hd.engadget.com/2008/05/26/monster-cable-at-it-again-sues-mini-golf-company/http://hd.engadget.com/2008/05/26/monster-cable-at-it-again-sues-mini-golf-company/May 27th 2008 12:50AMhttp://hd.engadget.com/2008/05/26/monster-cable-at-it-again-sues-mini-golf-company/http://hd.engadget.com/2008/05/26/monster-cable-at-it-again-sues-mini-golf-company/May 28th 2008 2:18PMhttp://hd.engadget.com/2008/05/26/monster-cable-at-it-again-sues-mini-golf-company/http://hd.engadget.com/2008/05/26/monster-cable-at-it-again-sues-mini-golf-company/
Titled, "Freedom of Expression: Resistance and Repression in an Age of Intellectual Property," McLeod explains the insanity involved in present day intellectual property rights (IPR), including how one medical research company managed to claim IPR for a cancer gene sequence they DISCOVERED (as in, didn't invent), and how if other companies want to defeat that cancer, they must first obtain a license from said IPR holder to work with the gene. I kid you not.

In a fit of intellectual outrage, McLeod actually managed to trademark the term "Freedom of Expression" in 1997.

McLeod is a member of the Creative Commons initiative, a great idea launched in part by Lawrence Lessig. I urge all readers to learn about and support it.

http://creativecommons.org/

The book is a great read, and it is guaranteed to infuriate everybody except the legal departments at AT&T, Disney, Diebold, Monsanto, et al.

]]>May 27th 2008 12:50AMhttp://hd.engadget.com/2008/05/26/monster-cable-at-it-again-sues-mini-golf-company/http://hd.engadget.com/2008/05/26/monster-cable-at-it-again-sues-mini-golf-company/
Things tend to make more sense when you understand how they work.

And your "the cure for cancer is patented" claim is just pure bs. Make it a different way than claimed in the patent, and you're not infringing. Also, why bother finding this sequence if you can't get paid for it? It took millions (usually billions, about 3 billion on average for drugs) to develop this bit of information. I can't name any investors off hand that would pay for that with expectation on investment being a whopping ZERO percent.


Monsanto and Diebold do a lot of R&D work. They employ engineers and discover/develop/invent new ideas and products. The other companies would love to do away with IP so that they could just steal the ideas of smaller companies without having to worry about penalties. You should check on the members of your "altruistic" groups. You have a bunch of commies and mult-national corporations in these anti patents groups like "The Coalition for Patent Fairness."]]>May 27th 2008 10:25AMhttp://hd.engadget.com/2008/05/26/monster-cable-at-it-again-sues-mini-golf-company/http://hd.engadget.com/2008/05/26/monster-cable-at-it-again-sues-mini-golf-company/
But then, Monster's track record is one of harassment and intimidation. They are a serial bad actor here, and contrary one one commenter's assertion there ARE sanctions that can be imposed on vexatious litigants like Monster. Perhaps we should start a Monster Defense Fund to speed that along.]]>May 27th 2008 12:34PMhttp://hd.engadget.com/2008/05/26/monster-cable-at-it-again-sues-mini-golf-company/http://hd.engadget.com/2008/05/26/monster-cable-at-it-again-sues-mini-golf-company/
That's exactly my point. Monster suing to enforce "legal rights" that they don't actually have is NOT RELATED to the question of whether our IP laws should be changed.]]>May 27th 2008 4:14PMhttp://hd.engadget.com/2008/05/26/monster-cable-at-it-again-sues-mini-golf-company/http://hd.engadget.com/2008/05/26/monster-cable-at-it-again-sues-mini-golf-company/May 27th 2008 1:35AMhttp://hd.engadget.com/2008/05/26/monster-cable-at-it-again-sues-mini-golf-company/http://hd.engadget.com/2008/05/26/monster-cable-at-it-again-sues-mini-golf-company/Monster Gable: makers of ultra-shielded lightning-proof roofing.
Monster Label: big labels, of course.
Monster Sable: breeders of a cross between sasquatch and small furry creatures.
Monster Table: the people who make those long dinner talbes for rich people.]]>May 27th 2008 2:09AMhttp://hd.engadget.com/2008/05/26/monster-cable-at-it-again-sues-mini-golf-company/http://hd.engadget.com/2008/05/26/monster-cable-at-it-again-sues-mini-golf-company/May 27th 2008 6:18AMhttp://hd.engadget.com/2008/05/26/monster-cable-at-it-again-sues-mini-golf-company/http://hd.engadget.com/2008/05/26/monster-cable-at-it-again-sues-mini-golf-company/May 27th 2008 7:47AMhttp://hd.engadget.com/2008/05/26/monster-cable-at-it-again-sues-mini-golf-company/http://hd.engadget.com/2008/05/26/monster-cable-at-it-again-sues-mini-golf-company/mini golf - AV cable
mini golf....... av cable?

yeah, i see the connection there...

I think this was an SAT word assocation example... i truly can see why monster is suing the mini golf place... SCREW THE MINI GOLFERS!!!]]>May 27th 2008 9:42AMhttp://hd.engadget.com/2008/05/26/monster-cable-at-it-again-sues-mini-golf-company/http://hd.engadget.com/2008/05/26/monster-cable-at-it-again-sues-mini-golf-company/
This is especially important when you are selling your overpriced products based on marketing and branding as opposed to any technical merits.

I am not defending them in any way - I'm just stating my limited knowledge on trademark protection. They could accomplish the same thing in a less ridiculous manner. ]]>May 27th 2008 9:47AMhttp://hd.engadget.com/2008/05/26/monster-cable-at-it-again-sues-mini-golf-company/http://hd.engadget.com/2008/05/26/monster-cable-at-it-again-sues-mini-golf-company/May 27th 2008 10:15AMhttp://hd.engadget.com/2008/05/26/monster-cable-at-it-again-sues-mini-golf-company/http://hd.engadget.com/2008/05/26/monster-cable-at-it-again-sues-mini-golf-company/
I don't understand why they're filing suits that they really don't have a chance at winning though. It's going to be hard to show that the ordinary consumer would think that the mini-golf was being built by Monster Cable. That's just a bit too far to stretch for most people I suspect.]]>May 27th 2008 10:30AMhttp://hd.engadget.com/2008/05/26/monster-cable-at-it-again-sues-mini-golf-company/http://hd.engadget.com/2008/05/26/monster-cable-at-it-again-sues-mini-golf-company/May 27th 2008 10:54AMhttp://hd.engadget.com/2008/05/26/monster-cable-at-it-again-sues-mini-golf-company/http://hd.engadget.com/2008/05/26/monster-cable-at-it-again-sues-mini-golf-company/http://www.gizmorepublic.com/accessories/monster-hdmi-cable-scam-830

]]>May 27th 2008 1:31PMhttp://hd.engadget.com/2008/05/26/monster-cable-at-it-again-sues-mini-golf-company/http://hd.engadget.com/2008/05/26/monster-cable-at-it-again-sues-mini-golf-company/May 27th 2008 4:18PMhttp://hd.engadget.com/2008/05/26/monster-cable-at-it-again-sues-mini-golf-company/http://hd.engadget.com/2008/05/26/monster-cable-at-it-again-sues-mini-golf-company/May 27th 2008 4:45PMhttp://hd.engadget.com/2008/05/26/monster-cable-at-it-again-sues-mini-golf-company/http://hd.engadget.com/2008/05/26/monster-cable-at-it-again-sues-mini-golf-company/
By the way, on the other comment thread on this (why are there two? I'm not sure...), there's a post which quotes what is purported to be (I assume it is, but for defamation purposes one can never be too careful) a message from David Tognotti, Monster Cable's house counsel, on the subject of the Monster Mini Golf debacle. Of all things, he's trying to make it out that Ms. Vitagliano's Monster Mini Golf is a big east-coast company (well, she's in Providence, RI, so she is "east coast." As for big--well, she sounds like a great person and I hope her company gets very big indeed, but it's clearly no vast corporate behemoth -- I would say "Monster" if I wouldn't get sued -- today.).

May I make a suggestion to those who are outraged over this? Monster Cable has no doubt received a lot of hostile e-mail from customers and ex-customers over these things, but it clearly hasn't done any good. Consider, when you sit down to write an e-mail, writing to Best Buy or Circuit City to ask them why they carry this product line and to ask them to pass along your feelings to Monster Cable. Retail product placement is the sine qua non of Monster Cable Company; that retail placement translates into sales dollars on a grand scale.

Kurt Denke
Blue Jeans Cable
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