My name brand guitar amps are being mass produced in SoCal.

I have been building Guitar amps for twenty years and branding them with my name VOGEL.  It’s true I have only made a few over the years with the dream of one day running a small business.  I’m not much of a businessman so building amps is a hobby for me. I am an electronics technician for my day job though.  Last year the Equador company, Vogel Guitars, started building Vogel Guitar amps in Southern California.

What, you mean they've stolen your name? Or they are building them for you?

I have nothing to do with that company and I didn't register my name. I can only imagine how the name Vogel wound up in Ecuador. I'll continue to build my amps.

This is funny all my life ive heard of the guy who started vogel guitars but never thought this was related to his record label.
He was born in California so maybe thats a starting point!!

Sad for you but you should have registered it!

Thanks.

Sorry to Hear it , I thought it was a good news headline

Do they bear any resemblance to your amps, electrically or physically?

Sorry to hear this. Only today I got Ebay (I was really surprised they pulled it - wow...) to pull a clone of my product off their site...

If you copy, a-la Behringer, you're a sociopath. It's that simple.

I guess the audio gear industry is made up of sociopaths then...

gemini86 said:

I guess the audio gear industry is made up of sociopaths then...

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Are you trying to make a point? 

I think his point was that there's more copies in the audio electronics business than anything else...

Thermionic whats your product? out of curiosity?
Thanks.

3nity said:

Thermionic whats your product? out of curiosity?
Thanks.

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It's a passive product that was designed for the PA arena, but has recently found use in domestic situations. I've been selling it since 2004 and it provides me with a modest income. The firm on Ebay made a poor imitation, but a blatant imitation / copy - in an effort, Beh-style, to take sales from me. I'm not bothered about the lost sales - anyone who buys their copy deserves what they get. However, it is a protected design (unlike Mackie's 8-Buss, which the judge stated, had it been a protected design, he could've awarded in their favour, instead the the stalemate which took place) and, unfortunately, you have to chase every infringement, however small, so as not to set precedent...

Ptownkid said:

I think his point was that there's more copies in the audio electronics business than anything else...

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You think the audio business is worse than other product fields? I tend to think people-are-people. You get those who will take the easy route without crediting the originator in any industry. We are all influenced by others to an extent, so there's no real thing as a *totally original* design (or piece of music for that matter) - that's not my beef. My issue is with firms such as Beh, who deliberately copy other firms hook, line and sinker, without even trying to disguise the origins. When I read an interview with Aphex's president, he called Uli Beh a 'sociopath' - I couldn't agree more.

Ptownkid said:

I think his point was that there's more copies in the audio electronics business than anything else...

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Actually, if you call it 'file sharing', there's A LOT more IP theft in the music and film/tv industries. But I digress ...

Walter, I am very sorry to hear this but - and I don't mean this to sound harsh - yes, you really should have registered the name if you felt at all proprietorial about it. After all, who's to say there isn't another Vogel out there building his own amps just like you, with the exact same aspirations? That's a collision just waiting to happen ...

MagnetoSound said:

Ptownkid said:

I think his point was that there's more copies in the audio electronics business than anything else...

Click to expand...

Actually, if you call it 'file sharing', there's A LOT more IP theft in the music and film/tv industries. But I digress ...

Walter, I am very sorry to hear this but - and I don't mean this to sound harsh - yes, you really should have registered the name if you felt at all proprietorial about it. After all, who's to say there isn't another Vogel out there building his own amps just like you, with the exact same aspirations? That's a collision just waiting to happen ...

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I wasted a shocking amount of money trying to get a US trademark. The TM examiner cited two examples of names he felt clashed with it... What does that say about the US TM system? US law terrifies me because they don't award costs. This means if a competitor can find a tenuous way to sue you, they potentially can; and even if you win, your costs could drive you out of business... Only in America...

thermionic said:

I wasted a shocking amount of money trying to get a US trademark. The TM examiner cited two examples of names he felt clashed with it... What does that say about the US TM system?

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It strongly favours those already established - which, arguably, may be a good thing if trademark protection is to be worth anything at all. Out of interest, was the trademark in question your own name? I would be curious to know if that makes any difference.

US law terrifies me because they don't award costs. This means if a competitor can find a tenuous way to sue you, they potentially can; and even if you win, your costs could drive you out of business... Only in America...

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This clearly favours the rich and corporate business, which in my view is not the basis of a fair economy.

I look at it as free advertising. If I continue building my amps, am I guilty of infringement? Probably, but I build amps because I enjoy building amps, I'm not trying to build a big business. These Vogel guitar amps, like mine, are vacuum tube. I don't know what the insides look like, the outsides look nice, and I like the script of the logo. I'm not loosing any business to them, and I'm sure I won't take any of their customers. It's just a coincidence we have the same name and build similar devices. This does make me want to get more aggressive with my business plan.

Yeah.. Passive-aggressive, may I ask?

massive passive.

MagnetoSound said:

thermionic said:

I wasted a shocking amount of money trying to get a US trademark. The TM examiner cited two examples of names he felt clashed with it... What does that say about the US TM system?

Click to expand...

It strongly favours those already established - which, arguably, may be a good thing if trademark protection is to be worth anything at all. Out of interest, was the trademark in question your own name? I would be curious to know if that makes any difference.

US law terrifies me because they don't award costs. This means if a competitor can find a tenuous way to sue you, they potentially can; and even if you win, your costs could drive you out of business... Only in America...

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This clearly favours the rich and corporate business, which in my view is not the basis of a fair economy.

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Fair unfortunately is too subjective to apply "fairly".

I am critical of the IP system that basically punts all disputes to court where the golden rule applies "He with the gold makes the rules"(exaggeration for effect, but deep pockets surely matter in court). It seems IP disputes should be more straightforward to adjudicate by IP masters without the need for expensive mouth pieces. 

---rant deleted---

JR

PS: I like the English system where loser pays court costs. It cuts down on frivolous litigation.

thermionic said:

Ptownkid said:

I think his point was that there's more copies in the audio electronics business than anything else...

Click to expand...

You think the audio business is worse than other product fields? I tend to think people-are-people. You get those who will take the easy route without crediting the originator in any industry. We are all influenced by others to an extent, so there's no real thing as a *totally original* design (or piece of music for that matter)

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I didn't say that it was worse than other product fields. As for the rest of what you said, absolutely.