Oy Vey... Monster Cables are junk to begin with, and now they're trying to be the Microsoft of cables?

Don't I then run the risk of getting sued for unsolicited email?
Hey, its freakin' monster. They'll come up with ANY reason to sue- like the RIAA but more evil.

Is there a reason these assholes are suing a small family owned business?

What about Monster Energy Drinks? Or the Cookie Monster?

Screw these bastards and their overpriced cables.

Maybe they would have a case if they charged $50 a round.

Somebody should start a "Monster Coat Hangers" business, just to piss Monster Cable off even more.

How long until Jim Henson's estate is sued for trademark infringement?

I mean, seriously, the Cookie Monster? I know we're all tired of Sesame Street blatantly flaunting copyright law.

already did this... here's the response from truth@monstercable.com:

Thank you for your email and your concern about this matter.

There are a lot of rumors, misinformation and false accusations on the web about Monster Cable and our trademark and brand protection efforts. We have been wrongfully accused of suing any company using the "Monster" name, and as being a "corporate bully." We are disappointed indeed to see misinformation out there since it is so far from the truth.

Anyone who knows our company, knows that we are not that kind of company.

Before you form any negative impressions of our company or how we have directed it, please allow me to straighten out some of the misconceptions.

1) Monster Mini Golf is using and has attempted to register several "Monster" trademarks with the United States Patent and Trademark Office. Their filings include MONSTER, MONSTER MINI GOLF, MONSTER FAMILY ENTERTAINMENT CENTER and MONSTR MINI GOLF. Their trademark use infringes our prior established trademark rights. Most specifically, we are protecting our rights for our trademarks MONSTER GAME and MONSTER in the area of recreational entertainment, which is one of the trademark classes established by the USPTO.

2) Monster Mini Golf is not a small "mom and pop" shop, but a "limited liability company" selling Monster Mini golf franchises across the nation. Monster Mini Golf charges franchise and set-up fees upwards of $300,000. This is a company that is making money by licensing our "Monster" brand. We don't target small businesses. We don't focus on the size of a company before suing them. We focus on whether or not their activity is (or has the chance to) harm our company's trademarks or confuse our customers.

3) We are not a corporate giant. We are still a family company, owned and run by our founder, Noel Lee. He started our company in his parent's garage 30 years ago with a dream to build, create and innovative high quality products that consumers love - that is still our goal. We do not seek to profit off of lawsuits. In fact, they are very costly. We sue to protect our intellectual property from infringement, not to make money. Unfortunately, this is a necessary cost doing of business when you are a successful industry leader and you have a popular and well known consumer brand.

4) Most people think of us as a cable company. However, our business interests are much more diverse then most realize. In addition, Monster owns trademark rights well beyond merely cable, audio, or video products. It has registered and common law trademarks for Monster in various classes of goods, including clothing, food products, furniture, gaming, recreational services, sporting goods, sporting events, entertainment, automotive products, just to name a few. Additionally, some people do not realize that we own a range of "Monster" marks beyond simply "Monster Cable." We own registered marks for "Monster" (single word) along with many other marks such as "Monster Game" and "Monster Music."

5) We began using the Monster brand over 30 years ago. Our use of the Monster brand pre-dates most other uses in the areas of business in which we are involved. In fact, you can see a list of our various "Monster" marks and types of goods going outside merely cable at the end of this letter.

6) We are not a "corporate bully" that uses litigation against companies. We do confront companies that purposefully infringe our patents and trademarks. Our intellectual property protection program is reasonable and necessary to protect our intellectual property from misuse by others. We have invested an extraordinary amount of time, money and effort over the last 30 years to innovate new products and designs, and build the Monster brand. It is wrong for companies to leverage our hard work and investment for their own gain. It is unfortunate that so many companies try to build their businesses by copying other companies' innovations and brands - rather than spending the time, effort, and money to innovate on their own. As noted in the link cited directly below, "companies who tolerate infringing uses of their mark risk losing all their rights in the mark if a third party challenger claims the company abandoned their mark by not enforcing it. Thus, companies cannot pick and choose against whom they are going to enforce their mark." [www.marklaw.com] This is an unfortunate aspect of the trademark laws in the U.S., that those who have famous brands must contend with.

7) Monster has a trademark protection program against others who create a likelihood of confusion with its trademarks. Contrary to false rumors, Monster does not claim and never has claimed a monopoly on the use of the term "Monster." Nor do we think we own the word generic word "Monster." However, we do have valuable trademark rights to the brand Monster. Our protection of our brand is no different then Apple Computer protecting its "Apple" brand, Virgin protecting its "Virgin" brand or Nike protecting is "Nike" brand, or Disney protecting its "Disney" brand. In fact, our protection program is similar to what is used by those companies. Enforcement actions are taken generally when others use a trademark including the term "Monster" for goods or services in similar market segments or trade channels in which Monster Cable owns prior rights. To understand the likelihood of confusion standard better (and note that both parties here use MONSTER (single word) in participatory recreational entertainment), see [www.marklaw.com]

8) We do not file a lawsuit without having a compelling legal and business reason to do so, and only after giving the infringing party ample warning and sufficient opportunity to resolve the matter on reasonable terms. A lawsuit is a last resort option - in our opinion. We prefer to work things out with people. Unfortunately, that is not always possible. In any event, we have not filed anything remotely close to 400 trademark infringement lawsuits - this simply untrue. In the case of Monster Mini Golf, we have offered a very fair and reasonable offer that will allow the company to continue using our trademark under a license.

9) We dislike frivolous lawsuits as much as the next person, and would never engage in a lawsuit that was frivolous or without merit. They are a waste of the public's money, and the time of the parties involved. In fact, the courts do not allow "frivolous" lawsuits to proceed. The courts have procedural safeguards to eliminate frivolous lawsuits, as well as penalties (like Rule 11) that can be levied against attorneys and parties who bring such suits. We have never been accused by a court of filing frivolous lawsuits.

There are tens of millions of Monster fans who love our company and love our products. Our company and employees' passion and unrelenting drive to innovate and create the highest quality products is well known in the industry and with consumers. Where most companies find out how to take quality out of something to reduce costs, we find how we can "improve" products and make them the best of class. That's why our customers love Monster products.

I hope this information helps. We value you as a customer, and hope you stay with us. We feel that our product quality and innovation is second to none, and would like for you to continue to enjoy your music and video in the best way possible.

If you would like to talk with me about this, or if this email does not answer your questions, please email me at truth@monstercable.com, or feel free to call me by phone.

Sincerely,

David Tognotti

Vice President and General Counsel

Direct: 415-840-2109

Toll Free: 877-800-8989 x2109

Well I fired off an email saying that they had lost me as a customer. I think I bought a monster cable about 10 years ago, and I will not again, therefore they have lost me as a customer. Keeping my fingers crossed that I don't get sued!

And by the way, the whole time I watched "Monsters, Inc" all I thought was Monster Cable. Or maybe I was thinking Monster Cable because the picture quality was ass. Who knows.

Monster cables are not junk. Overpriced? Yes. Better in quality than other cables? Probably not. Haveing said that, this lawsuit is stupid.

@Dooley:

Not junk, but not any better for the price than other cheaper cables.

They then go onto list 100's of other companies with monster in their name. It's an attempt at throwing so much information at you to shut you up. They play innocent and clam that they are the ones being extorted!

Clearly a form letter, I responded to thuth@monstercable.com, and the message bounced!

I had to check the BestBuy flyer b/c someone was going there and asked me if I needed anything. I saw a 6 foot HDMI Monster cable ON SALE for $199.00. It should come bundled with a 19 inch monitor for that price. Losers.

Wow, corporate greed at it's best right here. There's no reason for this other than just plain douchebaggery. I'll send an email... though it will be interesting to see what Monster MiniGolf has planned for CES.

@exkon: Where have you been? They've sued all the high profile companies, including the employment website Monster.com. Now they're moving on to the smaller players.

I for one support the company's decision to sue the mini-golf impostors, as I, as a consumer, was confused and mislead into thinking I was buying a state-of-the-art hi-def connection cable, but instead found myself playing a round of miniature golf.

Dear Monster: Good luck making case that your (overpriced crap) electronic cable business ("entertainment" myass) is being materially harmed by a frickin Go-kart track.

Or, you could just "never buy a Monster Cable again and you will tell everyone you know to never buy a Monster Cable" not because they're abusing trademark law but because you care enough about everyone you know to prevent them from spending 300 - 500% markup on some copper wire.

Nobody ruins monster cable's reputation except monster cable!

I can think of a way to combine Monster Cable and some golf clubs, but I'm sure Mr. Lee wouldn't like it.

There is limited, at best, possibility of confusion between Monster Mini-Golf and Monster Audio/Visual cables. You have to be blind deaf mute to make that kind of flub up. Then again, I can't see a blind deaf mute playing a round of mini golf or buying a set of Monster cables.

@lpranal: Cables, coathangers, same difference

www.monoprice.com ftw

@InfiniTrent:

Sorry, I only knew about this mini-golf place. Suing everyone with the "monster" in the title...@#$@$ THEM.

@Dooley: No, the Metalica of cables.

why aren't comments working?

[www.bluejeanscable.com]

Isn't it an empty threat if you were smart enough to have never been a customer in the first place?

@homerjay- Smiling politely: Oh I wish you could sue for unsolicited email, that'd be the day. They probably go all into the junk mail box anyway.

@pmcpa2: Okay. So if Monster Mini Golf abandons their trademark filing for the single word "Monster," there's no problem. Right? Right...? Because that's the ONLY valid point I gleaned from that wordy pile o' crap.

@InfiniTrent: And here I was thinking I'd like to see them go after monster.com. Drat.

Maybe they could go after Bela Lugosi's estate.

@pmcpa2: Ok, so they have registered names for "It has registered and common law trademarks for Monster in various classes of goods, including clothing, food products, furniture, gaming, recreational services, sporting goods, sporting events, entertainment, automotive products, just to name a few." - WHAT do they use them for? Nothing that I am aware of. I think they are doing that to stop people that had not had the foresight (or money) to register all those options...

@Derp: "Monster cables are not junk"

For the cost, they're junk. You can get monoprice cables for 1/10th or 1/20th of the price of the exact same quality.

@pmcpa2: Well, that's a right pretty speech, but they still haven't explained why Monster Cable has a Mini Golf trademark, or exactly how one could confuse overpriced audio cables with a Disney Film or Energy Drink. The record also clearly shows that Monster's litigation department can be a little trigger happy, as Blue Jean cable's CEO can attest.

Can they not see how these actions, along with a reputation for being horribly overpriced, might sour the public's opinion of them?

Incidentally, I was buying an auxiliary cable the other night and was almost to the checkout when I saw it was a Monster brand cable. I put it back and bought one 5 dollars less, and that was before this story broke.

hey I bet you could bend those golf clubs and turn them into wires for you home theater system and it would still sound better than Monster

Here's what I wrote them:

Dear Sir:

I was very disappointed to learn that you are suing another company purely on their use of the word "Monster" in their name based on your frivolous belief that they are somehow infringing on your trademarks.
I understand that you have various trademarks in many industries, which rightly allows your company to expand in any direction it sees fit. However, though you have a trademark for "Monster Game" as your form email from truth@monstercable.com purports, I do not believe that you should be harping on this company for this reason.

Though I understand your trademark is meant, most likely, to apply to gaming systems (as your primary business is audio / video cables, etc), I do not understand how the trademark could possibly be confused with "Monster Mini-Golf"; especially considering that the golf course in question uses monsters as its main theme (Monsters meaning mummies, dragons, etc).

Please allow me to elaborate on my train of thought:
I understand that your company wishes for the word "Monster", when used in common parlence, to be synonymous with high quality audio and video cables, and nothing else. However, I'm sure that adding "golf" or "mini-golf" on the end clearly demonstrates that this "Monster" is not referring to anything to do with audio or video cables, but with a fun family past-time. I see very very little chance, as a consumer, of telling my friend "We're going to Monster golf" and having them appear confused when we arrive and your products are inexplicably not available. I DO NOT see this as a valid confusion.

I am sure that your company is also aware that it is fairly impossible to trademark a word commonly found in the dictionary, of which Monster is one.

Though they may be a franchised business, Monster Mini Golf has considerably fewer resources than a nationally recognized brand such as yourselves, and thus this law suit puts them at a disadvantage. Though it would be easier, and far cheaper, for them to acquiesce to your demands, I for one am glad to see them fighting back against a corporate bully.

As a customer, now having realized how you and your lawyers operate in regards to your trademarks, I will henceforth discontinue any purchases of your products. In addition, I'm going to notify anyone and everyone that I can how you operate. It will be up to them to make a decision as a customer, but at least they will know the truth.

Thank you very kindly,

@unobservant:

Yeah by the end of the day they will probably have more protest emails saying "I'll never buy another Monster cable again" than they have had sales over the lifetime of the company.

@valarmorghulis: Specifically-

http://www.audioholics.com/news/industry-news/blue-jeans-strikes-back

http://www.freesoftwaremagazine.com/columns/interview_kurt_denke_man_who_shut_monster_cable_up

this is the same thing Nissan Motors is doing to a guy named Nissan! [www.nissan.com]

@pmcpa2: They are like a patent shop that buys up patents that they have no interest in using just so they can wait it out and sue future infringers that had no idea the previous patent even existed.
They trademark monster in areas that have nothing to do with their business and then sue anyone who uses the name in those areas. And people get sucked in because they have no idea Monster has a current trademark in something like gaming, because their company has nothing to do with gaming or has never advertised that they did.

That letter is very disturbing. It appears Monster is in the business of trademarking names just to sue unsuspecting violators.

@undefined: @TheBusDriver: That's what I want to know. It does seem a little shady that they have all these trademarks for products that are not directly related to their industry. Did they think at maybe some point they might want to branch out into Delicious Cake, perhaps? Maybe if this goes to trial they'll be forced to answer those questions...

Perfect. Let's all call him, TOLL FREE, and ask him what exactly his company has to do with minigolf. In all sincerity.

Monster's coward company disabled their email accounts.

Ben, could you post their phone numbers?

As for buying their overpriced products, go to Monoprice.com.

Same quality, 1/10th the price, and you're not subsidizing frivolous lawsuits that screw consumers in the long run.

@pmcpa2: What the letter doesn't say is that the reason they hold so many trademarks, is because they have systematically sued all of the original owners of those marks, and as part of the settlement, licensed the name BACK to the originator, often for a percentage of the profits of the company. If that's not being a bully, then I guess we need a new wiki definition...

@RecordStoreToughGuy: Also, I think when you have "tens of millions of customers", you cease to be a "family company" and begin to be a "corporate giant".

Granted, it's all semantics, but I think it's a valid point.

@deweydecimated: Does it involve inserting them both in his rectum and then putting the whole shebang in a trash compactor? Because I had that same idea!

Great minds...

@pmcpa2: The founder "started our company in his parent's garage 30 years ago with a dream to build, create and innovative high quality products that consumers love - that is still our goal."

So when are you going to return to THAT business model?

@Dooley: @VioletPheonix:

Although I dislike both Microsoft and Metallica, it is important to note that these two entities are both very successful and do produce some good items. Monster is more like "The Electric Slide" of cables.

@exkon: These guys better not be the reason "Monster House" is no longer on the air. That was the only home improvement show I could stand to watch...including "Home Improvement."

@eelmonger: A short google search turned this up: Monster.com., Monster Garage, a clothing store called MonsterVintage, Disney for the movie Monsters, Inc., the makers of Monster Energy drink, the Chicago Bears for having the nickname "Monsters of the Midway," and the Boston Red Sox for offering "Monster seats" on top of their famous "Green Monster" wall."