So... I sold a pedal to Chicago Iron......

[ch1naski]

It was the Shocktave circuit, on veroboard. I had used the Octavia logo as part of the artwork.
Since losing my job, I've decided to sell whatever I dont think I'll use too much. (i can always build more if i want one, right?)

Turns out Chicago Iron holds the trademark for the Tychobrahe Octavia.
They got ahold of me on eBay and asked me to remove it, and of course i did, and apologized. I told them that it was a personal build, and I was selling a couple of DIY things to help pay bills.

Then after watching the youtube demo, they offered to buy it, so it "would be off the market". I said there was nothing to worry about, I didn't want any problems, I would not put it back up for sale. But they still bought it.

The guy from the company (Kurt) sent another email asking for more info about the circuit, if i build for a living, etc.. I told him that it was not my design, but I did have some ideas to make it track better, but hadn't tried those ideas on this particular circuit ( I'm breadboarding the synthbox V2 for the experimenting).

Then I asked if he was thinking about marketing the circuit.

Havent heard any answer to that question.

Interesting, tho.

[wolfingsworth]

Wow! Big brother is watching...

[ch1naski]

That's Joe Davidson's circuit, he should get credit/financial reward/employment/whatever for it, if it gets considered for marketing.
Right?


Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk 2

[culturejam]

I'm sure the guy is not interested in the circuit. He's concerned that someone is using a name that he holds the trademark to. If you have a trademark, you have to aggressively defend it. If you don't go after a small guy who uses it, a judge will likely not find in your favor if later on a big company infringes.

So just change the name to something else and he will have no grounds to pester you.

[midwayfair]

Yeah, don't use companies' logos, kids, even if you think they're extinct, mmkay?

I would have pulled the guts out and offered to sell him the enclosure. In fact, if you haven't shipped it yet, you might consider pulling the circuit board and replacing it with a three-knob JFET buffer. What's he going to do if he gets an empty box? The transaction took place outside of eBay.

[ch1naski]

Lesson learned, Jon, lesson learned.

Unfortunately, he did get it thru eBay, he asked me to post it so he could buy it.


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[DutchMF]

Yeah, don't use companies' logos, kids, even if you think they're extinct, mmkay?

Okay...... you're tempting me to call you Mr Mackey from now on, but I won't........ 

Isn't it strange how things like this work? You want to sell something, to get some cash back from your really nice hobby. A 'Big Name Company' wants to prevent you from doing that, winds up giving you some cash and thus makes happen exactly what you wanted in the first place...... 2 things: first, I hope you did charge them a lot!!!. second, it is kinda cool that they offered to buy it from you instead of threatening with lawyers to prevent you from selling it to anybody else. My 2 cents, cheers on a successful sale!

Paul

[Mike B.]

I'm sure buying the pedal was cheaper than the phone call to their attorney, and certainly not worth the bad press with the DIY community if they went after you with legal action. They were just taking the most cost-effective means to get that off the market.

[DutchMF]

I'm sure buying the pedal was cheaper than the phone call to their attorney, and certainly not worth the bad press with the DIY community if they went after you with legal action. They were just taking the most cost-effective means to get that off the market.

In that case, let's pull together and build 5 more..... Just kiddin', I understand what you mean. Never gave an ounce of thought to stuff like this before I started building, but I can appreciate where they are coming from. Think this ended ok, didn't it?

Paul

[ch1naski]

oh, I'm totally in the wrong by using their logo, of course. They paid for it.
I'm just thinking that they may try and market the circuit, seeing as how they have three different Octavia versions already. Maybe they think this would be a nice addition to the Octavia family. I just think that the circuit designer should be involved if that happens.


Maybe my cynicism and distrust of people in general is causing me to jump to conclusions.....

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[jimilee]

oh, I'm totally in the wrong by using their logo, of course. They paid for it.
I'm just thinking that they may try and market the circuit, seeing as how they have three different Octavia versions already. Maybe they think this would be a nice addition to the Octavia family. I just think that the circuit designer should be involved if that happens.


Maybe my cynicism and distrust of people in general is causing me to jump to conclusions.....

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk 2

In an effort to combat your use of their logo without permission,they in turn are going to pirate the circuit? I'd contact the designer just to see what his thoughts are. It's probably all just nothing really, you're right, your mind is just running amok now! Relax and see how it goes.

[ch1naski]

Yea, I know.
It's just weird that after quite a bit of back and forth communication, after I ask about his plans about the circuit, the communication came to a grinding halt.

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[jimilee]

Yea, I know.
It's just weird that after quite a bit of back and forth communication, after I ask about his plans about the circuit, the communication came to a grinding halt.

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk 2

Did they pay you?

[Stomptown]

Yeah, don't use companies' logos, kids, even if you think they're extinct, mmkay?

This! When I first started building I made a Fulltone OCD replica for myself and eventually tried to sell in on fleabay to drum up some funds for another project and Mike Fuller threatened to "Take my daddy to the cleaners." While he was extremely rude and unprofessional, I do understand his position. It's definitely best to stay clear of using product names/brands. I also recently discovered that many of the Big Muff version names (i.e. Civil War, Ram's Head) have been tradmarked by small companies who clone big Muff's so it is always worth while doing research before sellling a build...

[jimilee]

I'm afraid to sell mine on eBay, too many uncertainties, and no way to protect yourself from hacks that will sorry the pedal and blame you, out worse, something goes wrong with your build and it is your fault.