Blue Jeans lays a smackdown on Monster Cable

Michael_K_Sr · 04-15-2008, 05:49 PM

After Monster Cable issued a C&D order to Blue Jeans Cable a few weeks ago against their Tartan cable line, today Blue Jeans' president struck back.

"... I do not compromise with bullies and I would rather spend fifty thousand dollars on defense than give you a dollar of unmerited settlement funds"

**HTF Ads**

mylan · 04-15-2008, 08:37 PM

"Not only am I unintimadated by litagation, I sometimes rather miss it."
If only I could crush my enemies so utterly and completely as has Mr.Denke has done, well done sir! Sometimes the big dog bites off more than they can chew, I howled when I read the paragraph that begins "After graduating from the University of Pennsylvania Law School, I spent nineteen years in litagation practice...." priceless, simply priceless.

Holadem · 04-15-2008, 09:16 PM

While I am no so naive as to believe that that letter settled the matter, it was beautiful to read.

Still, I do find it interesting that sympathies seem to lie automatically with the perceived "little guy", regardless of the merits of Monster's complaints, which none of us are in a position to evaluate (a fact acknowledged in the stub in the link.)

What if Blue Jeans did infringe on Monster Cable's patents?

--
H

BrianW · 04-15-2008, 09:20 PM

I find myself more and more often reading legal documents, courtroom filings, and letters like this one just for fun. I'm following almost half a dozen civil litigation cases at the moment, and I almost wish I had gone into law instead of engineering.

Alas.

But, in all honesty, I know that I made the right career decision, and that letters of response like Mr. Denke's serve to instill a "Grass-Is-Greener" longing in me that is misplaced and ill-begotten. Law is very hard work, and heroic moments of this magnitude are few and far between. Nevertheless, I do not exaggerate when I say that Mr. Denke has made it on my list of heroes.

Though a very few people go into law in order to perpetrate scams, the vast majority, I believe, go into law in order to prevent the perpetration of scams. It always thrills my heart to see one of these idealists get an opportunity to strike a significant blow against bully litigants, especially in the patent arena.

Thanks for the link. That was a great read.

Holadem · 04-15-2008, 09:27 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BrianW

I find myself more and more often reading legal documents, courtroom filings, and letters like this one just for fun. I'm following almost half a dozen civil litigation cases at the moment, and I almost wish I had gone into law instead of engineering.

Same here except: 1- it is of course possible to do both 2- I believe that the rigors of engineering actually help in legal education and practice 3- I am not following half a dozen litigation cases

--
H

BrianW · 04-15-2008, 09:34 PM

Quote:

What if Blue Jeans did infringe on Monster Cable's patents?

Simple. Then Monster will follow through, prevail, and likely put Mr. Denke out of business.

But I do know what you mean about how, in the absense of evidence or data, sympathies tend to go with the "little guy". I don't consider this a good thing, especially to the extent that the "little guy" intends to use said sympathy, instead of evidence, to influence a jury.

But that's what makes it exciting, isn't it? At this point, it's a poker game, and all the players have their best poker faces on. There won't be any cards on the table until discovery, and we won't see all the cards until the trial. Of course, if someone folds, we still won't see all the cards, but we'll definitely know who had the best hand.

RobertR · 04-15-2008, 09:52 PM

From what I know about the business practices of the respective companies, I find it very hard to believe that Blue Jeans Cable is infringing on any patents. Monster is a company engaged heavily in high end audio bullshit, which tells me that their patents are for things of dubious value, done mainly for the purpose of making marketing claims (as in "See? Our design is patented, so it's obviously really special, and will cause (insert any number of subjectivist audio terms eaten up by those who fall for such claims)!"). Blue Jeans doesn't participate in such nonsense, so it makes no sense why they would "infringe" by duplicating it. I wish them well.

Yee-Ming · 04-16-2008, 04:42 AM

Dang, I wish I were able to write a response to a potential plaintiff's claim that is so erudite and damning in its analysis of the plaintiff's claim!

This is going to make for very interesting reading going forward, if Monster's lawyers don't back off and continue.

Philip Hamm · 04-16-2008, 08:44 AM

Nice letter.

ChristopherG · 04-16-2008, 09:03 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Holadem

What if Blue Jeans did infringe on Monster Cable's patents?

--
H

If that were so, couldn't they simply have provided the smoking gun evidence, vis-a-vis their patent info, so as to make this clear cut? It will be interesting to see how this turns out in any case....

DaveHo · 04-16-2008, 09:35 AM

If I read that right, Monster's claim, in a nut shell, is that Blue Jeans is infringing on Monster's patents by using RCA style connectors on their cables. Seems pretty absured to me.

Francois Caron · 04-16-2008, 10:13 AM

Quote:

Further, if any of these patents or trademarks has been licensed to any entity, please provide me with copies of the licensing agreements. I assume that Monster Cable International, Ltd., in Bermuda, listed on these patents, is an IP holding company and that Monster Cable's principal US entity pays licensing fees to the Bermuda corporation in order to shift income out of the United States and thereby avoid paying United States federal income tax on those portions of its income; my request for these licensing agreements is specifically intended to include any licensing agreements, including those with closely related or sham entities, within or without the Monster Cable "family," and without regard to whether those licensing agreements are sham transactions for tax shelter purposes only or whether they are bona fide arm's-length transactions.

He's gonna send the IRS after them! I love it!

Blue Jeans has great, reasonably priced cables and an excellent shipping policy to Canada (USPS at about cost). And their Web site is truly informative.

Kurt! ATTACK! *GROWL!*

Ennsio · 04-16-2008, 10:32 AM

Wow, that was an awesome response letter. Good to see someone standing up to the big companies that spend far too much of their time and effort on BS marketing than creating value in their audio products. Makes me want to order some cables from BJC just to support them in their fight against Monster.

Here's my favourite line from the letter:

Quote:

I assume that Monster Cable International, Ltd., in Bermuda, listed on these patents, is an IP holding company and that Monster Cable's principal US entity pays licensing fees to the Bermuda corporation in order to shift income out of the United States and thereby avoid paying United States federal income tax on those portions of its income;