Gibson sends Mojo Hand FX cease and desist over Mister-O Phaser

I get trying to protect you trademark and what not but the meastro phaser was an analog phaser and i believe the mojo hand fx is a digital simulation and as far as I know Gibson doesn’t have any pedals on the market.

It’s kind of like getting mad because your wife choose space ice cream over apple pie but you hadn’t planted the apple tree yet. Idk i’m tired and fuck gibson, buy eastman or prs.
 
Gotta be careful with those trademarks....

A particular company (who will not be named) tried to tell me we can't use the word "factory" in any of the project names. :rolleyes:

I'm also not allowed to say their name on social media. :ROFLMAO: :ROFLMAO:
(Not sure that's how that works there, buddy)


It's important to note that none of the projects here are inspired by, based on, or clones of any existing products. They can be compared to, much like Pepsi to Coke, but they are their own separate entities.
 
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I've only had one brush with trademark law, but it was from the other side of the coin with a former employee. A C&D took care of it, but the logo being used physically belonged to us so it was fairly clear cut.
On several occasions, I've been involved with IP rights violations, which is extremely complex.
 
music6000 said:
Was the word mister around before Gibson existed????
Click to expand...
It's the font choice and the appearance that's the issue. I doubt they would have a claim if it weren't on a piece of musical equipment. They're able to argue that someone could reasonably mistake the 'mister-o' for 'maestro' in this case. And if the word 'mister' in this case bothers you, I don't suggest that you look too deep into IP and trademark law. Every regular thing and phrase is owned by somebody.

I still wonder how sunnO))) (the band) doesn't get takedowns left and right from Fender. But, you'll notice that they use the stylized sun like (((O))) on equipment, which can be argued that it's altered enough to be a unique design.
 
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Robert said:
Gotta be careful with those trademarks....

A particular company (who will not be named) tried to tell me we can't use the word "factory" in any of the project names. :rolleyes:

I'm also not allowed to say their name on social media. :ROFLMAO: :ROFLMAO:
(Not sure that's how that works there, buddy)


It's important to note that none of the projects here are inspired by, based on, or clones of any existing products. They can be compared to, much like Pepsi to Coke, but they are their own separate entities.
Click to expand...
Are they the same mob that were Vertical challenged till recently? nudge nudge ;) ;)
 
Link seems dead now.

Gibson’s bankruptcy seemed especially ominous after KKR - a financial group which, among other things, profited huge from buying and then gutting Toys R Us - took over. I’m surprised they even still make guitars.

As much as it’s business as usual it also is a bummer when it’s a company that makes stuff people like. While trademarks are “use it or lose it” and most businesses have to be protective of their trademarks to keep them, I gotta imagine they’re going after people much harder than before KKR.
 
Robert said:
A particular company (who will not be named) tried to tell me we can't use the word "factory" in any of the project names. :rolleyes:

I'm also not allowed to say their name on social media. :ROFLMAO: :ROFLMAO:
(Not sure that's how that works there, buddy)
Click to expand...
Have they ever brought anything to court? Or has it just been threats of lawsuits? I know that they're very aggressive with their branding. I guess it's a good thing the publishers of MOSFETs 101 aren't particularly litigious.
 
music6000 said:
Are they the same mob that were Vertical challenged till recently? nudge nudge ;) ;)
Click to expand...

Vexing isn't it?

This is why I recommend staying away from using trademarked names, logos, styles, etc in DIY builds, even as innocent as it may seem at the time.

"They'll never bother me, I just build stuff for myself in my moms basement"

Years ago (way back before PedalPCB was even remotely a thing) I built a pedal for myself. This was one of my first pedal builds... It was a clone, and I did use the name of the original in the artwork. It wasn't cosmetically a clone, the styling was a bit of a novelty in itself, but it wasn't like any variation of the original. It was for me personally, I had no intentions of tricking anyone, or creating counterfeits.... No harm done.

A friend saw it, really wanted it, and somehow he ended up with it. A couple years passed and he decided to move some gear, which included that pedal. It was listed on Reverb, the IP owners saw it, had it removed, and contacted me with some nasty legal threats.

Lesson learned. Stay away from trademarks.
 
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