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Monster Cable Strong-Arms Monstervintage.com

Posted on Thursday, March 17 @ 10:21:21 PST

BoyCott Monster Cable Products We want people to know the truth about Noel Lee, founder of Monster Cable and how your tax dollars are being wasted in the Trademark and Federal Courts because of his legal mobsterism. Using our own legal system, The Head Monster intimidates little companies into signing a license agreement giving Monster Cable ownership of the word monster and claiming profits from products sold by any company with the word monster in their name. Monster Cable clearly has no respect for our nation's trademark laws, which are in place to protect companies rights, not satisfy Mr. Lee's greedy appetite ...   Monster Cable DROPS Case Against Monster Vintage like Scared RATS Jumping from a Sinking Ship!  Since our terrible experience with Monster Cable, we have lost time, money, peace of mind, and valuable attention to Monstervintage.com. We have been put through enormous emotional and financial suffering because of the brutal, frivolous lawsuit brought against us by Monster Cable and "The Head Monsters" obsession to own everything that contains monster in its name. Victor and I built this business together and before "The Head Monster" reared his ugly head, we were planning to get married. We both were looking forward to a beautiful ceremony and special honeymoon until this legal battle sucked our dreams and money right out of our pockets. Now with debt looming over us like suffocating black smoke the financial burden is too heavy for even a small celebration. True to their name, Monster Cable has left us with monster-sized bills and devastated finances after nearly three years of legal turmoil. As the owners of Monster Vintage, Victor Petrucci and myself, Cathy West, suffered endless harassment and mounting threats from Monster Cable to relinquish our company's name. Our e-commerce clothing business became the target of a vicious campaign designed to coerce us to pay up or else. It sounds like a bad Hollywood mobster movie. Noel Lee, The Head Monster of Monster Cable, seems to have a personal vendetta against anyone who dares use the word monster in their business name. He systematically runs businesses into the ground using strong-arm legal tactics to force business owners to pay him off or hand over a chunk of their profits in order to keep their own company's name. ?The Head Monster? goes after large and small companies and hundreds like ours who cannot afford the fight just cave in. We wonder how many small companies Noel Lee has "monstered" out of business and how many livelihoods he has destroyed. We want people to know the truth about Noel Lee, founder of Monster Cable and how your tax dollars are being wasted in the Trademark and Federal Courts because of his legal mobsterism. Using our own legal system, The Head Monster intimidates companies into signing a license agreement giving Monster Cable ownership of the word monster and claiming profits from products sold by any company with the word monster in their name. Monster Cable clearly has no respect for our nation's trademark laws, which are in place to protect companies rights, not satisfy Mr. Lee's greedy appetite. We've heard the U.S. Trademark Office had to dedicate an entire room for Monster Cables files. It appears most companies drop their name or sign the license agreement for lack of adequate legal defense and financial resources. The larger companies with unlimited legal funds have "secret" settlements, probably just dropped cases but kept off the record so future Oppositions will not see what happened. It's easy for Monster Cable to take advantage of small entrepreneurs with limited experience in Trademark laws, Monster Cable claims to own hundreds of products under the monster name. It's sad that all those hard working people pay someone like Noel Lee for their business. The Head Monster says he's not after the money even though we were told by his lawyer the usual price of the license agreement is $3,000 to $5,000. The lawyer told us come up with money and make our payment out to Monster Cable. And then to keep our name, we would have to pay a percentage of what we make. "The Head Monster" says he's not after money; so we guess to him our small profits would not be making money. Renewals are required and we wonder how much that would be after your business has grown and they control your name under their "monster" license. This is Monster Vintage's story and it's like a bad dream, but it's real. We have put some of the legal documents below and are sharing some personal information, so that people can judge for themselves. We can fax or mail copies of these documents, if requested. Below is a very short outline of what has happened. We've started from the beginning for the people who are not aware of these atrocities committed by Monster Cable. And to the readers that have followed our Monster Cable nightmare, we really appreciate your time and support and emails! One Website Visitor's Comment: Hello, I am bidding on this with great empathy for you. I went through 4 years of fighting a phony $250,000.00 lawsuit. I have looked over a bit of your situation. 1. Their suit is without MERIT. They have NO just claims. 2. I have conducted patent and trademark searches since 1980. Their claims are baseless. An honest attorney could have shut them down in a heartbeat. Yours, most likely, was bleeding you in collusion with the opposing attorney. 3. If what you say is correct, that they have defrauded others with this scam - there IS a wonderful solution. Call the FBI and charge the attorneys and Monster Cable with interstate racketeering under RICO. If you research RICO you will find that they qualify as organized crime under this definition. PUT THEIR sorry asses in prison where they belong - Then gather others harmed by their phony claim to a common word and sue the attorneys personally and Monster cable for a just amount (millions) in punitive damages. Best regards, Ray Note: by: Editor

 

Thanks For the email:   12/28/05

Your's is just one of a multitude of horror stories that I've read WRT the idiots at Monster Cable.

I ensure that NONE of their products are not, nor ever will be, in my house. Ditto for everyone that I know or meet. To include all family members.
Just doing my part.
I read that the lawsuit was slimily skewed so you could not recoup any of your costs. Can you file a civil suit over the personal hard ship/pain/etc. and cut a several million $$$ size hole out of Monstershitheads mid-section? Especially with where you caught him, by his ISP addy, leaving messages etc. ??? Gotta love those idiots who think that they are anonymous when pulling such shit.
Lastly, have you set up a defense fund of any sort? I looked, a bit, to see if you had some sort of a paypal tip jar but didn't find one.

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In response to the following email from an ebay auction we are gathering the facts to see where this can go, pretty interesting!

Q: Hello, I am bidding on this with great empathy for you. I went through 4 years of fighting a phony $250,000.00 lawsuit. I have looked over a bit of your situation. 1. Their suit is without MERIT. They have NO just claims. 2. I have conducted patent and trademark searches since 1980. Their claims are baseless. An honest attorney could have shut them down in a heartbeat. Yours, most likely, was bleeding you in collusion with the opposing attorney. 3. If what you say is correct, that they have defrauded others with this scam - there IS a wonderful solution. Call the FBI and charge the attorneys and Monster Cable with interstate racketeering under RICO. If you research RICO you will find that they qualify as organized crime under this definition. PUT THEIR sorry asses in prison where they belong - Then gather others harmed by their phoney claim to a common word and sue the attorneys personally and Monster cable for a just amount (millions) in punitive damages. Best regards, Ray

QUOTE

Just a note to let you know that you have lost me as a long time customer due to your recent string of despicable litigation. I will never again buy your company's products or patronize it any way. I had always regarded your company as a market leader with premium products, but I no longer see it that way. Your company now projects an image of a selfish, greedy company that has no regard for hurting other businesses and people. Wasting the public's money with more than 250 suits in courts around the country is the last thing this country needs right now. No brand, especially one as trivial as a common English noun, deserves that kind of protection by the public.

News Update    

5:30 pm,  receive call from Monster Cable's in house Attorney, Dave tognoti asking why the Monster Vintage logo is back up on the website, I told him that it is our logo and that is where it goes, on our website.  He then  said that he would be watching. I stated that  Noel Lee  dropped the law suit and in the Motion for Dismissal  to the court there is no mention  about our logo or any other reason for dropping the case.    After a few minutes of trying to talk with him he hung up the phone on me.  Our logo which is very different,  is now back on our website.    We feel like Monster Cable was using our logo as an excuse to cover up their real reason for coming after us when there was a lot of publicity, prior to the public outrage all the demand letters were only about our name......this whole legal battle was just a strong arm move to get us to sign under their license so they can try to claim they are famous when in actuality, they have just out "financed" other Monster companies into signing their license agreement. 

News Update

Monster Cable DROPS Case Against Monster Vintage like Scared RATS Jumping from a Sinking Ship!  leaving us with losses up to $100,000.00.

True to their name, Monster Cable has left us with monster-sized bills and devastated finances after nearly three years of legal turmoil.  As the owners of Monster Vintage, Victor Petrucci and myself, Cathy West, suffered endless harassment and mounting threats from Monster Cable to relinquish our company’s name.  Our e-commerce clothing business became the target of a vicious campaign designed to coerce us to pay up or else. 

It sounds like a bad Hollywood mobster movie.

Noel Lee, The Head Monster of Monster Cable, seems to have a personal vendetta against anyone who dares use the word monster in their business name.  He systematically runs businesses into the ground using strong-arm legal tactics to force business owners to pay him off or hand over a chunk of their profits in order to keep their own company’s name.  “The Head Monster” goes after large and small companies and hundreds like ours who cannot afford the fight just cave in.  We wonder how many small companies Noel Lee has monstered out of business and how many livelihoods he has destroyed.

We want people to know the truth about Noel Lee, founder of Monster Cable and how your tax dollars are being wasted in the Trademark and Federal Courts because of his legal mobsterism.  Using our own legal system, The Head Monster intimidates companies into signing a license agreement giving Monster Cable ownership of the word monster and claiming profits from products sold by any company with the word monster in their name.   Monster Cable clearly has no respect for our nation’s trademark laws, which are in place to protect companies rights, not satisfy Mr. Lee’s greedy appetite. 

We've heard the U.S. Trademark Office had to dedicate an entire room for Monster Cables files.  It appears most companies drop their name or sign the license agreement for lack of adequate legal defense and financial resources.  The larger companies with unlimited legal funds have "secret" settlements, probably just dropped cases but kept off the record so future Oppositions will not see what happened.  It's easy for Monster Cable to take advantage of small entrepreneurs with limited experience in Trademark laws, Monster Cable claims to own hundreds of products under the monster name. It's sad that all those hard working people pay someone like Noel Lee for their business.   The Head Monster says he's not after the money even though we were told by his lawyer the usual price of the license agreement is $3,000 to $5,000.  The lawyer told us come up with money and make our payment out to Monster Cable.  And then to keep our name, we would have to pay a percentage of what we make.  "The Head Monster" says he’s not after money; so we guess to him our small profits would not be making money.   Renewals are required and we wonder how much that would be after your business has grown and they control your name under their "monster" license.  

Since our terrible experience with Monster Cable, we have lost time, money, peace of mind, and valuable attention to Monstervintage.com. We have been put through enormous emotional and financial suffering because of the brutal, frivolous lawsuit brought against us by Monster Cable and "The Head Monsters" obsession to own everything that contains monster in its name. Victor and I built this business together and before "The Head Monster" reared his ugly head, we were planning to get married. We both were looking forward to a beautiful ceremony and special honeymoon until this legal battle sucked our dreams and money right out of our pockets. Now with debt looming over us like suffocating black smoke the financial burden is too heavy for even a small celebration.  

This is Monster Vintage's story and it's like a bad dream, but it’s real. We have put some of the legal documents below and are sharing some personal information, so that people can judge for themselves. We can fax or mail copies of these documents, if requested. Below is a very short outline of what has happened. We’ve started from the beginning for the people who are not aware of these atrocities committed by Monster Cable. And to the readers that have followed our Monster Cable nightmare, we really appreciate your time and support and emails!
 Around 9/2002, we received the first call demanding we stop using Monster Vintage or sign license agreement and pay $1000.00 (a reduced fee from $5000.00) and 1% gross income thereafter.
 5/2002, a letter arrived demanding a check for the license agreement to be made out to Monster Cable.
 Another letter demanding we cease to use Monster Vintage.

Then, Monster Cable brought an expensive, outrageous Federal lawsuit against us, trying to dominate the monster word and claiming unfair trade practices and infringement on their electronic cable Trademark.   Our business consist of buying and selling vintage clothing, not electronic cables or anything even remotely related to that industry.  We don't even produce anything new.  Monstervintage.com buys old vintage clothing from small Thrift Stores and independent clothing sellers.  Businesses we buy from help support Senior Centers, Charities, homeless shelters, and animal shelters. We also buy from the only clothing recycler in Oregon. Monster Vintage creates income for numerous independent businesses, as well as creative, and computer and technical people. Unlike Monster Cable, we are not a Fortune 500 enterprise. Our contribution to the economy is insignificant compared to Monster Cable, but our work is honest, and a legitimate contribution to the community and our environment. But because we use the word monster in our name, The Head Monster wants to run us out of business. Since we had not filed a Trademark, our case was sent to Federal Court and we are now buried in legal fees. Victor and I feel Noel Lee, The Head Monster, owes us, our clients, and our customers.

 Victor went to Monster cable in Brisbane and the Monster Park opening in San Francisco with a billboard truck to protest Monster Cable and there Attorneys.
 Spent grueling hours, days, and weeks researching and trying to defend Monstervintage.com in court Pro Se since we couldn't afford a trademark lawyer.
 Filed a motion for Change of Venue
 Lost time at work, lost time at home with family, lost sleep, lost peace of mind.
 Hired a trademark lawyer because trying to figure out what to do was entirely too overwhelming.
 Our doorway-sized calendar is filled with Court dates, and were desperately trying to figure out how to be at all hearings, mediations, and appearance dates.
 WON CHANGE OF VENUE! It is rare to get this type of Federal case moved for the defendant and we won!
 Meetings with attorneys.
 Phone calls with attorneys.
 More meetings with attorneys.
 Monster Cable called our attorneys saying they wanted to make a deal, but we had only a few hours to do it. The deal was to remove the info on our website and keep our mouths shut.  The following weekend we planned to meet with Snow Monster and boycott Monster Cable at the Las Vegas tradeshow. On 01/06/2005, we heard that Snow Monster had suddenly changed their story and would not say a word to us. It seems they buckled under The Head Monsters weight. Monster Cable didn't want bad publicity at the Consumer Electronics Show. so while there from his motel room answering forms saying we have No Law Suits with anyone, then having his friends using his laptop leave lies about monster cable as you can see by the IP address ( did you not think anybody was that smart) We had managed to be in several major newspapers and on a lot of awesome forums. But more needs to be done so we can all use the word. If we came to the CES, we would have let the whole, unedited truth out during The Head Monsters show-off time in Las Vegas.
 Monster Cable files a motion with the Court to dismiss case against Monster Vintage.

Throughout our research, we saw the pattern within the Trademark Courts of Monster Cable filing lawsuits, putting the pressure on companies, and then bailing out if the legal battle gets tough. There were are also  secret settlements whose results conveniently couldn't be seen. The Head Monster must not want anyone else to be able to refer to these cases because if they could, they would see where Monster Cable is willing to fold. Without an effective lawyer and the money to pay the legal fees, it’s virtually impossible to battle The Head Monster. It was a huge victory to win our change of venue and not have to appear in California. To get this far was very expensive and extremely difficult, and most people couldn‘t continue fighting. Sometimes you can get a lot done and said even if you re just a small guy.

 We thought about it, but decided it was too ridiculous and unfair.
 More letters from Monster Cable attorneys.
 A letter came claiming to have my signature on a certified receipt, stating to the court that I had been served the Summons on the Law Suit filed. I went to my Post Master and got a print-out of the Certified Receipt that someone in another state had supposedly signed for me. The Attorney’s used this receipt; how ethical is that?
 Called Court Clerk to get information and learned how to go to the Pacer Government site to see the case. (Our file date and case number is shown on our website front page.)
 Wrote a letter to the judge complaining about the Attorney’s false signature on the USPS Receipt. The Court Clerk notified Monster Cable‘s attorney with Judges orders to correct this problem. The court was not pleased.
 Spent hours, days, weeks, and months researching what to do.
 Spent hours, days, weeks, and months trying to find an attorney. The case is filed in California; we’re in the Portland, Oregon/Vancouver, Washington area. Trademark lawyers want $10,000 to $50,000 to take the case.
 Victor spent five hours on the phone with Monster Cable’s in-house attorney, Mr. Tognotti on the Saturday before the opening of Monster Park, the result of a $6 million deal to rename Candlestick Park in San Francisco. Our attempt to reach an agreement failed. Monster Cable insist on having us under their license, so that they can own Monstervintage.com, control what we can and cannot sell, and can cancel our agreement at any time.

We have worked hard to build our business. Victor and I both come from difficult situations. We’ve struggled through hardships, downfalls, and great personal and family tragedies. But we’ve pulled ourselves through, and for the first time in our lives we managed to create a good stable life. The “The Head Monster” came along and threatened to take it all away. Without a second thought, that by taking our name, Monster Cable would put us out of business and out on the street! It has been devastating! How do you stand up and protect yourself from a billion dollar company? 

Since Monster Cable is extremely experienced in these lawsuits, and unfortunately our lawyers aren’t, they filed the case in such a way that we cannot go back on them for our losses. The best we can do is to continue to protest Monster Cable until the end of time or until they repair the damage they have done to us.

We want “The Head Monster” Noel Lee, to clean up his mess. He has cost us a enormous amount of money, worry, and time. Noel Lee has publicly stated in Audiophile forums that he does not file lawsuits of this nature. His denial of this lawsuit is the same as saying we’re so insignificant that we don’t deserve to be acknowledged. But we, like all other small businesses trying to make it in this country, deserve to be recognized. We believe Monster Cable’s accusation of trademark infringement and their attorney’s use fraudulent papers to file a service of summons with the court are unethical and unjust actions. One of the demands in the license agreement Monster Cable wanted us to sign was that we would never file for a trademark for Monster Vintage. We have and are now waiting for an assignment. We won’t be surprised if Monster Cable comes after us again. We know we don’t have any legal recourse against “The Head Monster,” but we do have freedom of speech. And until Noel Lee puts right what he did wrong, we will be heard!

We have received amazing support from hundreds of people -- our customers, clients, and others who don’t even know us. THANK YOU! And to our customers, we apologize for not being able to conduct business as well as we normally would have and for the times we have not been able to live up to our monstrous goal of vast inventory and adding new items to the website. Since Monster Cable came into our lives, we’ve had to spend most of our time just trying to keep our livelihood from being taken by Monster Cable's Trademark attorney's. Noel Lee, you don’t even have a clue how much you have hurt us! But then, we shouldn’t expect a “Monster” to even care.

Read On..

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  Links We Found >>  http://www.audiocircle.com/circles/viewtopic.php?t=15768&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=0

                                       http://www.monstergreed.com/Index%20with%20info%20about%20MC.htm

                                 http://ttabvue.uspto.gov/ttabvue/v?qt=adv&qs=monster%20cable%20products&page=1

           http://www.ttlg.com/forums/showthread.php?s=0f6dda3a05c0b4e78b0bc052b96d59a6&t=92519&page=2&pp=25

                                            http://www.audioasylum.com/audio/general/messages/366840.html

                                           http://www.diyaudio.com/forums/showthread/t-42599.html

                                                                            www.madmartian.com/legal/

 Please Email Them Your Thoughts

monsterinformation@monstercable.com

Tognotti@monstercable.com

iebaran@monstercable.com

dgraham@monstercable.com  

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