Wolfetone announces intent to push back on Dimarzio trademark

Help!I'maRock!

Help!I'maRock!

Mediocringly Derivative
Don't mind the rest of the thread. This is the interesting part.

http://www.thegearpage.net/board/in...esolved-mod-edit.1719324/page-2#post-22198387

So the deal is that Dimarzio trademarked cream pickup bobbins in the mid 70s. As with any trademark, if you put out a humbucker with cream bobbins, Dimarzio will send you a C&D. That's how trademarks work. Defend them or lose them. The other manufacturer can either pay Dimarzio a licensing fee, or pound sand. Since the trademark is only domestic, if you build your pickups in another country, you are not bound by the trademark. Wolfe says he has enough evidence to overturn the domestic trademark, and he's willing to pay the costs to take it to court.

Personally, I never thought humbucker colors were a big deal. I was apparently wrong. Buyers on TGP, SD, and other forums are furious Dimarzio has this trademark and actively defends it. Who knew beige was such a divisive color?
 
I would just make pickups that say Fuck Dimarzio on them and see how long it would take for them to let me use cream.

I hate the cream/black pickups anyways. So it doesn't really matter to me. If I get a humbucker, I want it with a cover.
 
Kerouac said:
I hate cream pickups and binding; especially cream zebra pickups.
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bsman said:
So don't use cream. Use eggshell, vanilla, ivory, beige, latte, etc....
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Apparently, this is a parts supply issue: http://www.thegearpage.net/board/in...esolved-mod-edit.1719324/page-5#post-22202626

Unless Wolfe makes the cream bobbins himself, the ones available wholesale are lesser quality. Dimarzio would probably sue the manufacturer as well as the brand. So everyone just avoids the issue because it's cheaper. Which is usually how it goes with trademarks.

All this hubbub because Jimmy Page took the cover off of his bridge pickup 50 years ago, and it had two cream bobbins.
 
How on earth is a pickup bobbin color trade markable anyways? It is a freaking color not a technology or innovation. I mean some some stupid reason it is, but that seems pretty lame.
 
Denverdave said:
How on earth is a pickup bobbin color trade markable anyways? It is a freaking color not a technology or innovation. I mean some some stupid reason it is, but that seems pretty lame.
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I'm guessing that's what the lawsuit will be about. Since I wasn't there, I'm guessing that in the 70s, the double cream pickup was a defining brand characteristic of Dimarzio. They seem to have gotten away from that in the 25 years I've been playing guitar, but still retain their trademark on double cream.
 
Denverdave said:
How on earth is a pickup bobbin color trade markable anyways?
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In the USA a color can be trademarked within a particular industry. So while Behringer could sell knockoffs of Orange amp circuits, Orange could shut them down if the amps came with Orange tolex. Same for pickup bobbins.

It’s more messy in the rest of the world, where trademark colors were generally respected in business but often not protected by law.
 
Help!I'maRock! said:
I'm guessing that's what the lawsuit will be about. Since I wasn't there, I'm guessing that in the 70s, the double cream pickup was a defining brand characteristic of Dimarzio. They seem to have gotten away from that in the 25 years I've been playing guitar, but still retain their trademark on double cream.
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Yes, I'd say that this is probably accurate. I think that their argument would carry more weight had this design been used on most, or all, of their offerings since that time. I would not expect them to prevail.
 
Guitar Heel said:
Yes, I'd say that this is probably accurate. I think that their argument would carry more weight had this design been used on most, or all, of their offerings since that time. I would not expect them to prevail.
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Well, that's the thing. Looking on their website, it's only the PAF 36th, PAF Master, Steve Morse, and Super Distortion that are shown in double cream. But, you can order any Dimarzio pickup in any color combination they offer. So while it's not a defining feature, it's still a feature. While I have no vested interest in the outcome, I'm very interested to see how the trademark is defended, and whether or not Dimarzio retains it.
 
Carvin has made cream pickups for years. My '84 DC160T came with them. I'm assuming they must've paid DiMarzio a fee to do this?



And yes, those are cream, not white.
 
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