the following is from the BLUE email newsletter:
Subject: Blue Mic V. Violet - Official Response
From: [email protected]
Reply-To: [email protected]
X-ELNK-AV: 0
We at Blue Microphones would like to make a statement regarding
the ongoing speculation over the original design of Blue?s product
line and Blue?s current business dealings. We have not
commented on these subjects until now simply because our
legal advisors have specifically recommended that we not
participate in the rumor mill. However, we now believe that the
amount of time and misguided speculation that has been
invested on these subjects by forum visitors requires a response.
This statement is intended to set the record straight and will be
the one and only comment offered by Blue Microphones.
Skipper Wise, Martins Saulespurens, and all of the dedicated
and hard-working people at Blue sincerely appreciate those who
have supported us throughout the years and those who will continue
to support Blue Microphones in the future.
First, the design issue:
At the onset of Blue?s incorporation, we hired a Latvian medical
manufacturer called Scruples to manufacture certain metals
parts and perform the final assembly of certain microphones.
Scruples, which is owned in part by Juris Zarins, signed a
non-compete agreement with Blue and used their
manufacturing expertise to construct our product.
As the Blue line caught on, our relationship with Mr. Zarins
became strained as he fought for a bigger piece of the pie.
Mr. Zarins began attempting to leverage our manufacturing
relationship with Scruples to assert claims to our products.
Mr. Zarins attempted to circumvent Blue by creating a company
called ParaBlue that would sell Blue products directly to customers.
In conjunction with these activities, Scruples became less and less
interested in cooperating with Blue?s efforts to manage production
flow and quality control. Since Scruples would not continue to meet
our needs, we found new manufacturers ? right here in America ? who could.
After Blue terminated all business relations with Scruples in
October of 2004, Scruples violated our non-compete agreement
by supplying microphones to a new company of Mr. Zarins,? Violet
Designs, whose trademark infringes on Blue's trademark. Mr. Zarins
began creating unauthorized duplications of our products under the
name JZ Equipment, which was in clear violation of both our
intellectual property rights and the non-compete agreement.
Mr. Zarins has also made a deceptive attempt to register Blue?s
microphone designs with the European Union.
So, did Scruples make choices in what techniques and technologies
should be used to manufacture Blue?s products? Of course, that?s
what they were hired and paid to do. Did Scruples or Mr. Zarins
somehow establish a vision and actually design the Blue product line?
Absolutely not, which is why we?ve already begun legal action in the
European Union, Latvia, and soon in the U.S.
Some other matters of interest:
As stated above, Blue has moved the manufacturing operations for
most of its core product line to the United States ? specifically
Southern California, where we are headquartered ? and whatever is
not made here is made in Latvia.
None of our microphones are made in China. We do, however,
source some of our non-critical parts, such as shock-mounts and
cables, from Chinese manufacturers. This enables us to cost-effectively
increase the value of our product line by including free shock-mounts
with each of our mics.
Make no mistake, it was a huge challenge to move manufacturing to
facilities that would allow us to maintain the same quality craftsmanship
recordists have come to expect from Blue over the last decade.
After an intense search and a couple false starts, we settled on hiring
a milling company from the U.S. military contracting world, a finishing
company from the aerospace industry, and an assembly house
skilled in hi-fidelity audio...all located close to home in California,
all highly capable of meeting our ultra-high standards.
Keep in mind that all our ball-shaped microphones are still made
in Latvia. Our circuit boards are also still made in Latvia. Our capsule
assembly and tuning is still done in Latvia, and our Bottle mic is still
made entirely in Latvia. All these aspects of Blue production, as well
as most of our research and development, are still managed by
Martins Saulespurens in Latvia. Most importantly, all our products are
still Blue's unique designs.
Finally, Juris Zarins and Scruples had nothing to do with Blue?s
restoration service. Our restoration service particularly inhibited the
production output of our Bottle microphone; we therefore discontinued
the service in order to fully concentrate on the Bottle and other Blue
products. We can only guess that JZ Equipment says they offer
restoration services because that?s what Blue had done.
We hope this information has proven helpful, and would like to thank
you all very much for your interest in what the future holds for
Blue Microphones. For our part, we are very proud to have served this
industry for ten years now, and can?t wait to bring even better solutions
to the recording industry for another ten years ? and beyond!
Thanks,
Ari Soudak
Subject: Blue Mic V. Violet - Official Response
From: [email protected]
Reply-To: [email protected]
X-ELNK-AV: 0
We at Blue Microphones would like to make a statement regarding
the ongoing speculation over the original design of Blue?s product
line and Blue?s current business dealings. We have not
commented on these subjects until now simply because our
legal advisors have specifically recommended that we not
participate in the rumor mill. However, we now believe that the
amount of time and misguided speculation that has been
invested on these subjects by forum visitors requires a response.
This statement is intended to set the record straight and will be
the one and only comment offered by Blue Microphones.
Skipper Wise, Martins Saulespurens, and all of the dedicated
and hard-working people at Blue sincerely appreciate those who
have supported us throughout the years and those who will continue
to support Blue Microphones in the future.
First, the design issue:
At the onset of Blue?s incorporation, we hired a Latvian medical
manufacturer called Scruples to manufacture certain metals
parts and perform the final assembly of certain microphones.
Scruples, which is owned in part by Juris Zarins, signed a
non-compete agreement with Blue and used their
manufacturing expertise to construct our product.
As the Blue line caught on, our relationship with Mr. Zarins
became strained as he fought for a bigger piece of the pie.
Mr. Zarins began attempting to leverage our manufacturing
relationship with Scruples to assert claims to our products.
Mr. Zarins attempted to circumvent Blue by creating a company
called ParaBlue that would sell Blue products directly to customers.
In conjunction with these activities, Scruples became less and less
interested in cooperating with Blue?s efforts to manage production
flow and quality control. Since Scruples would not continue to meet
our needs, we found new manufacturers ? right here in America ? who could.
After Blue terminated all business relations with Scruples in
October of 2004, Scruples violated our non-compete agreement
by supplying microphones to a new company of Mr. Zarins,? Violet
Designs, whose trademark infringes on Blue's trademark. Mr. Zarins
began creating unauthorized duplications of our products under the
name JZ Equipment, which was in clear violation of both our
intellectual property rights and the non-compete agreement.
Mr. Zarins has also made a deceptive attempt to register Blue?s
microphone designs with the European Union.
So, did Scruples make choices in what techniques and technologies
should be used to manufacture Blue?s products? Of course, that?s
what they were hired and paid to do. Did Scruples or Mr. Zarins
somehow establish a vision and actually design the Blue product line?
Absolutely not, which is why we?ve already begun legal action in the
European Union, Latvia, and soon in the U.S.
Some other matters of interest:
As stated above, Blue has moved the manufacturing operations for
most of its core product line to the United States ? specifically
Southern California, where we are headquartered ? and whatever is
not made here is made in Latvia.
None of our microphones are made in China. We do, however,
source some of our non-critical parts, such as shock-mounts and
cables, from Chinese manufacturers. This enables us to cost-effectively
increase the value of our product line by including free shock-mounts
with each of our mics.
Make no mistake, it was a huge challenge to move manufacturing to
facilities that would allow us to maintain the same quality craftsmanship
recordists have come to expect from Blue over the last decade.
After an intense search and a couple false starts, we settled on hiring
a milling company from the U.S. military contracting world, a finishing
company from the aerospace industry, and an assembly house
skilled in hi-fidelity audio...all located close to home in California,
all highly capable of meeting our ultra-high standards.
Keep in mind that all our ball-shaped microphones are still made
in Latvia. Our circuit boards are also still made in Latvia. Our capsule
assembly and tuning is still done in Latvia, and our Bottle mic is still
made entirely in Latvia. All these aspects of Blue production, as well
as most of our research and development, are still managed by
Martins Saulespurens in Latvia. Most importantly, all our products are
still Blue's unique designs.
Finally, Juris Zarins and Scruples had nothing to do with Blue?s
restoration service. Our restoration service particularly inhibited the
production output of our Bottle microphone; we therefore discontinued
the service in order to fully concentrate on the Bottle and other Blue
products. We can only guess that JZ Equipment says they offer
restoration services because that?s what Blue had done.
We hope this information has proven helpful, and would like to thank
you all very much for your interest in what the future holds for
Blue Microphones. For our part, we are very proud to have served this
industry for ten years now, and can?t wait to bring even better solutions
to the recording industry for another ten years ? and beyond!
Thanks,
Ari Soudak
