Deciding on names for your pedals...

[slacker775]

That 10k really ain't 10k.   People park those things and just want to get something for it.  My company had the same issue a few years back, a squatter wanted like 20k for it and we wound up getting it for maybe $500.

[RobA]

...
Hell, even the big companies get sued.

Case in point, a few years back Monster Cable went nuts and sued seemingly everybody they could find who used Monster in their business name or as a title of their work.  They even sued Disney (although it doesn't appear that they won).

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123869022704882969.html

Wow. Add one more reason not to by anything from Monster Cable -- not that I actually needed another reason.

[pickdropper]

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Hell, even the big companies get sued.

Case in point, a few years back Monster Cable went nuts and sued seemingly everybody they could find who used Monster in their business name or as a title of their work.  They even sued Disney (although it doesn't appear that they won).

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123869022704882969.html

Wow. Add one more reason not to by anything from Monster Cable -- not that I actually needed another reason.

Well, if you found that interesting, this is WAY better.

http://www.bluejeanscable.com/legal/mcp/

Short summary: Monster sued a small company named Blue Jeans Cable.  I suspect they didn't realize the owner of the small company was a former litigator.  His rebuttal letters to Monster are priceless.  He completely shuts them down.  I think my two favorite part is when he points out their holding company in Bermuda, presumably there for tax shelter reasons.  It doesn't get any better than that.

It's long, but really worth the read.

[ch1naski]

As for pedal names: never use existing names/logos/artwork even if you think they're history.

(Remember that story of ch1naski: http://www.madbeanpedals.com/forum/index.php?topic=10179.0)

Furthermore, any time you want to evoke certain associations you're probably in trouble.

Ha, I was just going to mention that fiasco.

I usually Google the name of a pedal I'm thinking of using, first, now.
I had built a doombutter, called it "echobender" and put the decal with that name on it, etc., finished the enclosure..... Then I  found that there already was a pedal called that out there.


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[ch1naski]

Personally, I think he was extremely lucky in that the guy bought the pedal off him. There are many different routes he could have gone, but it seems he was as nice as he could be about it.

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nice..... Maybe. Pretty sure from my correspondence with him that he is planning to market it.

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[ThePastRecedes]

I re-read my OP and I've realised it's a little vague.... A better way of wording it would be:

How have you guys decide on a name ei: Madbean, 1776 effects, earthquaker devices, that is not already taken and does not interfere with intellectual property of others? Is just a case of months of thinking?

I have many ideas that have been used for other purposes. Therefore I do not want to use them. I have a feeling that I am thinking a little bit inside the box since I have set myself two potential themes.

[RobA]

...

Well, if you found that interesting, this is WAY better.

http://www.bluejeanscable.com/legal/mcp/

Short summary: Monster sued a small company named Blue Jeans Cable.  I suspect they didn't realize the owner of the small company was a former litigator.  His rebuttal letters to Monster are priceless.  He completely shuts them down.  I think my two favorite part is when he points out their holding company in Bermuda, presumably there for tax shelter reasons.  It doesn't get any better than that.

It's long, but really worth the read.

Yeah, that was nicely done. It would be great if the big companies would do the same kind of response, but it seems that it is more to their benefit to keep the whole scam running instead.

[DutchMF]

I think the best way to approach this is to choose something that's really close to something you like a lot, or characterizes you as a person/builder/musician, and take it from there. Then once you've found something with a nice ring to it, check with Google. For me it was quite easy: I mentioned here that I was soldering on top of our laundry machine and got a comment about it better not going into the spin cycle while I was soldering; Spincycle FX!

Paul

[kothoma]

Haha, can you be sure that if you google something new google not miraculously gains ownership?

[DutchMF]

Haha, can you be sure that if you google something new google not miraculously gains ownership?

Now this would scary..... 

[RobA]

Haha, can you be sure that if you google something new google not miraculously gains ownership?

Well, Google doesn't seem to be in the domain name ownership business. But, I have suspicions that this does happen with some less than scrupulous registrars.

[Vallhagen]

I just had to google the word "göögle". This came up:

http://www.göögle.se/

[culturejam]

Could anybody sue your for using your own name?

Absolutely.

There was a case a few years ago in which a woman opened a coffee shop in her hometown. Her last name was actually Starbuck, and she called it "Starbuck's Coffe Shoppe" or something similar. The corporate overlords at Starbucks went after her with a vengeance, and she ended being forced to change the name, even though it was her actual last name.

As Pickdropper pointed out, the trademark protecting names of companies or brands or whatever is only as good as the company's ability to prove they have aggressively defended it. In other words, they *have* to manhandle the small players who accidentally step on their trademarks so that when a big competitor infringes, they can show the courts that they have a history of actively defending their trademark. It works in a similar way with patents. It's kinda crappy, but that's how it is.

My advice, which is merely friendly and not in any way legal advice, is that if you have any hesitation at all about using a certain name, then don't. You may be running a tiny operation now, but if you ever did get any bigger, you will attract the wrong kind of attention.

[RobA]

I just had to google the word "göögle". This came up:

http://www.göögle.se/

?
?
? ...

Do you suppose it was the creator of the video that put up the website, or was some non-related individual so overwhelmed by the experience of watching that they felt the need to dedicate and entire website to just that video?

[RobA]

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As Pickdropper pointed out, the trademark protecting names of companies or brands or whatever is only as good as the company's ability to prove they have aggressively defended it. In other words, they *have* to manhandle the small players who accidentally step on their trademarks so that when a big competitor infringes, they can show the courts that they have a history of actively defending their trademark. It works in a similar way with patents. It's kinda crappy, but that's how it is.
...

Just to make this clear, I'm not a lawyer and I have no idea what I'm talking about , but hey, here goes anyway. They don't actually have to go after every perceived infringement. Here's a quote from the wiki page on trademark https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trademark

It is not necessary for a trademark owner to take enforcement action against all infringement if it can be shown that the owner perceived the infringement to be minor and inconsequential.

To be clear, this isn't to protect the small guy. It's designed to keep the trademark owner from having to go to court all the time to defend their trademark. Still, it does give them some discretion in what they prosecute. The Wiki page also points out that there are classifications that limit the scope of trademark and it certainly wouldn't be required to threaten someone outside the area covered by your trademark.

Patents are very different and as far as I know, you aren't required to defend them to maintain them at all. Although, I really have no idea how that applies to design patents.

All that said, I still think it is wise to make every effort to avoid stepping on anyone else's trademarks. Look at it this way, even if you are only doing this in a small way for fun now, they might change later. You'd want to be able to maintain any name recognition you've developed over time.

Also, you really need to be able to rank fairly high in web searches with your name if you want anyone to be able to find you.