NEWS: Beats in a lawsuit with Yamaha - Page 5

americans and their suing crap like crapple

While they do look alike, i think that "design" copyright is a bit overkill. After all, headphones alll look alike in a way, so its strange that they would even consider patenting a headphone design.

For me, the beats are what the Iphone is: paying for a social status, not for real quality.

This beeing said, Yamaha was the first company to draw blood in this pointless drama, so i cant really blame Monster for the legal action.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Davedog 

but Copyrighting shapes is silly, all large over-ear headphones are going to have the same generic shape, 2 cans and a headband. yes beats are selling the look but trying to sue is almost as daft as say... apple trying to patent a rectangle with rounded corners.

THIS x1000, man I hate copyrighting of silly stuff, especially the Apple iPhone vs Samsung case drove me nuts. I'd feel like giving a good smack to any1 who thinks copyrighting such things is "OK". That's just my personal opinion, some things shouldn't be eligible for copyright, it's just a harm for the society when certain things have ideal functionality like the shapes of the phones. If a company decides to copyright silly things like form-factor then that means the whole society will suffer as they will either have to force to buy that manufacturer's offering or settle for something worse and having just one option is NEVER a good thing. So therefore, you shouldn't be eligible to copyright everything. Headphone appearence is there on the border for me, if it's EXACT copy shape-wise I'd agree but if there's tiny differences like in this case, I think it's ok. 

Quote:

Originally Posted by h4mm3r 0f th0r 

americans and their suing crap like crapple

This too...

   when will people realize colorful gunk is not worth it!!!

 Yamaha we support u!!! 

I never understood why they call the guy "DR" if it was porn it made sense 

I would of thought any self respecting headphone manufacturer would try to stay as far away from anything resembling Beats as possible.

So it serves Yamaha right IMO

Quote:

Originally Posted by Spakka 

In all honesty, I think beats actually have a point there...

There are only so many possible ways to make a headphone look. If every maker was allowed to sue on such grounds, then there would be room in the market for only about 5 manufacturers.

To give an example from an even more appearance driven market, Rolex probably wouldn't be allowed to make the Submariner because it looks at least as much like the Blancpain 50 Fathoms as those two headphones look like each other - in fact, out of hundreds of diving watch designs you'd probably only be able to buy Doxas and those Seikos that have the crown at 4. Oh - and the Seiko Tuna, because no one is mistaking that for anything other than an alarm clock strapped to the wrist.

I thought the legal basis for this kind of foolish lawsuit was that you could prove the company with original design might lose potential customers because they had mistaken their product for the imitating company's product (i.e. they bought Yamaha phones thinking they were Beats). Since in this case the Yamaha symbom is very visible, I don't see how this could be a problem.

I have no love for the idea that a company suddenly owns a geometric shape. Paper clips all look alike, mugs are all identical, and you don't see those companies suing each other. As long as the Beats logo isn't there (check) and the Yamaha symbol is obvious (check, even bigger than the Beats' B) this shouldn't even be an issue.

It's just progress. Companies are always taking design cues from others. Sometimes it's more similar than others. I think they look less similar than most smart phones today, and most of those court cases didn't go very far, so I don't see what the big fuss is about. 

Quote:

Originally Posted by 28980 

I find it amusing that a correlation between apple and beats was made.

i mentioned crapple as both are american and love to sue others thinking that it would help stop their downfall....

Quote:

Originally Posted by GREQ 

This only re-enforces what we all suspected - beats are only interested in profits, not sound. 

If they were certain of the superiority of the sound quality of their product, they would let the public decide by ear.

 

But their business model is based on merchandising, branding and marketing. They've created something to make people believe they need it. 

There have been a small number of other headphones from VERY small companies that have similar looks to the beats, but as previously mentioned, as soon as a high-roller comes along it's a different story. 

What is wrong with any of this?  I dont have Beats, and dont want them.  But its the publics responsibility to do their homework when it comes to their headphones.  Dont blame Dr. Dre for hitting big with nice looking headphones that appeal to whomever.  This is America and free enterprise.  People should have done their homework on headphones and SQ.  Its not Dr. Dre's responsibility to teach SQ to consumers. 

A few interesting reads from Ars Technica on American patent law (and the blatant dysfunction rampant within it) if anyone is interested: 

How a rogue appeals court wrecked the patent system

Opinion: The problem with software patents? They don't scale

Trolls filed 40% of patent infringement lawsuits in 2011

ITC: How an obscure bureaucracy makes the world safe for patent trolls

Opinion: EFF should call for the elimination of software patents

A lot of it has to do with software patents specifically, but it's still quite interesting IMO an illustrative of the cluster$%^& our patent courts have become. 

Quote:

Originally Posted by lebomb 

What is wrong with any of this?

What's wrong with making money for the sake of making money without any benefit to humanity? Think about it.

I live on a continent where companies don't constantly sue each other over small petty differences. It's called competition, but some large American companies seem to be allergic to that concept.

Love the packaging!

On a slightly related note, have you guys read the Gizmodo article Tyll linked to about how Beats completely screwed over Monster Inc.?

http://gizmodo.com/5981823/beat-by-dre-the-inside-story-of-how-monster-lost-the-world