Motor City Blister Bucker

[NightWinder]

...

One does not have to register a name to be able to protect it, they simply have to use it and be able to show it has been used.
Trust me on this, I've learned a lot over the last year and a half, having gone through almost a year's worth of legal bullshite regarding the Dr. Vintage crap.

State to state may vary- You really should Copy Write it, or trademark it- A simple statement is not enough in Michigan- You should do thisd anyway- Its also not in any law here that you have to show proof of either- Copywrite or trademarked but it does hold a pentalty if you are falsely adverstising as such with the c symbol or the t and have not filed...

[NightWinder]

...

Neither do I, but I've seen several references to it on the Gear Page and Google now. Since it's "new" maybe Wade has delayed in putting it on his site or something.

Either way, after having gone through the whole Dr. Vintage lawsuit custom a cool $20k, I'm highly irritated by this. All Wade would have had to do is Google "Blisterbucker" or do a search for it on the Gear Page, Ceramic Lounge, or Axehouse forums to see that I'm already using it, and have been for at least four years now.

Wolf...My time is very limited- I have customers waiting on orders and I sure as hell don't have time to check 20,000 forums for similaritys in names for my designs- I think I do a pretty good job getting as far away as I can with that...Its baby stuff really...We'll crack the whip get it strait as soon as my phone line get on....
I tell you now also. Please don't try to educate me on the law and talk alll crazy kinds of shitmouth stuff man...I can tell from the time you sent me an e-mail and the time you posted this here was about 4 hrs apart.....Be on your game- Lets be cool....

[TD_Madden]

c'mon fellers.....

[David Schwab]

Well "blister" and "bliss" are two different words with totally different meanings.

[salvarsan]

Salvarsan sells sea shells by the sea shore???

Yeah! That's the ticket!

Glad you have a sense of humor about all this.

I'm sure you and Wolfe will settle things easily.

This community is too small to bear grudges for long.

-drh

[WolfeMacleod]

...I can tell from the time you sent me an e-mail and the time you posted this here was about 4 hrs apart.....Be on your game- Lets be cool....

Wade, I'll be waiting for your phone call.

By the way, trademark law is Federal. Not State to State. Regardless of what Michigan's laws are, they must still follow Federal trademark law, since I do business in Michigan as well.
There are "local" trademark laws for businesses that only operate in a small community, such as "Joe's Bar" in Podunk and there would not be an issue with "Joe's bar" in Timbuktu.
However, if another "Joe's Bar" operates on a national level and has been operating since before both local Joe's, there would be an issue.

Dave, yes, while Blister and Bliss are different words with different meaning, they sound very similar. HukEd on FoNix wErKed fEr mE. And things that sound similar do begin to have issues in Trademark law.

Trademark protects more than identical copying, it extends to anything that is confusingly similar, even if it isn't exactly the same.
Read here: http://www.expertlaw.com/forums/showthread.php?t=582


1207.01(b)(i) Word Marks

The points of comparison for a word mark are appearance, sound, meaning, and commercial impression.

[Possum]

...

I like Snotbucker better. Bugars sound gross. I think legally the difference between blissbucker and blistbucker would probably stand up in court, bliss and blister are two totally different meanings. This is sticky stuff, hope you guys can get your emotions out of the way and work out an amicable idea. the name is relatively unimportant to how a pickup sounds anyway. You could use Nirvanabucker, Aumbucker, Stonebucker, Bhuddabucker. Of course you'll have to pay me $25 for the use of any of these stupid names I came up with :-)

[JGundry]

Just a thought on how a lawyer might see this. Both the Blister and Bliss Bucker sound similar to Burst Bucker. A lawyer could claim that since Trademark is meaningless if not enforced and since Gibson has clearly not enforced any B-Bucker naming convention then it is basically on open field for all that want to come up with some variation on the B-Bucker theme.

[David King]

Sublimity bucker?
Euphoria bucker
Snuggle bucker
Bitchin'bucker
U-bet-cha-bucker.

[soundmasterg]

Sublimity bucker?
Euphoria bucker
Snuggle bucker
Bitchin'bucker
U-bet-cha-bucker.

My brother and his wife run a snowboard shop with the name of Sublimity Snow and Skate, so that one is off limits because they were thinking about making pickups too...

Greg

[Possum]

...

PLEASE. NO u-betcha buckers! Especially if they're made in Alaska...

[salvarsan]

Nailin Palin

PLEASE. NO u-betcha buckers! Especially if they're made in Alaska...

Certainly not.

That would have to be the "Under-Indictment Bucker", although
it might be confused with their senator Stevens.


I'm kinda smit with the name "Bogus Bucker" or "Bogo Bucker" --
the screw bobbin is wound out to 8k with #43 and the slug bobbin is empty.

-drh

[Dave Kerr]

Well, even if Wade's calling them BlissBuckers, he certainly has enough customers who've confused the name with BlisterBucker to call them by Wolfe's name in reviews on Harmony Central, Youtube, VintageAmps, etc. I'm not a lawyer, yadda yadda, but if the threshold for action is having a name similar enough to confuse one's product name with another's, I'd think long and hard before digging in my heels on something like this.

edit - Whats' also apparent from the few postings I've seen via search is that the vast majority of these reviewers associate this product with MCP, so they'd know where to go to ask for the product, whatever it's called.

[kevinT]

Certainly not.

That would have to be the "Under-Indictment Bucker", although
it might be confused with their senator Stevens.


I'm kinda smit with the name "Bogus Bucker" or "Bogo Bucker" --
the screw bobbin is wound out to 8k with #43 and the slug bobbin is empty.

-drh

What about BozoBucker or PoserBucker

[David Schwab]

Dave, yes, while Blister and Bliss are different words with different meaning, they sound very similar. HukEd on FoNix wErKed fEr mE. And things that sound similar do begin to have issues in Trademark law.

I didn't mean to imply that you didn't know that! I was just saying I thought they were different enough whereas I wouldn't confuse them, however, clearly people have been using the wrong names in reviews, so that just goes to show all those that didn't use HukEd on FoNix!

Recently Apple Inc. went after Line 6 on their use of the word "pod", since Apple has been going after everyone using "pod" in names. This was in Australia, and Apple lost the suit. I really didn't see how an Apple iPod and Line6 Pod would be confused, but then they are not similar products.

I think "Bliss" without the "bucker" sounds better anyway. A "Blissbucker" would imply that it's bucking your bliss! Might as well name it "Buzz Kill" then! We all know they are humbuckers, so...

I'm sure you two will work out something.