AmericanEDC
New Head-Fier
- Joined
- Sep 1, 2014
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My problem with them is not in the product they make but in the way they used to "acquire" the name "read the court document". They just profited from the reputation of Aiwa to sell their product and now they are blocking Aiwa japan from re-entering the US market. Even if they are not making junk product they should have created their own original brand and work to build a reputation for it in the US but instead they decided to misappropriate the company brand even if the company was dormant and used the existing reputation of Sony's Aiwa for their own gain.
"Quote: as per court document: In 2014, Defendants Thomann and Hale filed several fraudulent trademark applications with the United States Patent and Trademark Office (“USPTO”) falsely stating they were entitled to exclusive rights in the AIWA Mark"
"Quote: Defendants thereafter began a public relations campaign in which they falsely claimed to have purchased the rights in the AIWA Mark from Sony. For example, the Chicago Tribune reported as follows: “Mark Thomann, CEO of Chicago-based River West Brands (or whomever), said he spotted Aiwa in 2013, bought the rights to it and secured the trademark.” See Exhibit A, Chicago Tribune, How Aiwa, a former global stereo brand, is getting resurrected in Chicago,
March 11, 2015. Such fraudulent and deceptive conduct has even prompted the following information to be published on the AIWA entry in Wikipedia: “In 2015, Dormitus Brands, a Chicago-based brand acquisition company run by Mark Thomann, acquired the rights for the Aiwa brand and trademark from Sony.” (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aiwa#cite_note-16)."
(Edited: glad to see clarification by Aiwa below.)
I’m not affiliated with Aiwa at all.
But I must point out that you are conflating “River West Brands” and Joe Born (and company).
Honestly you sound ill informed. You complain about the current Aiwa USA and then quote a lawsuit that THEY had nothing whatsoever to do with as I understand it.
Joe Born purchased the name from River West Brands. Of course they would block any entities from using the brand in the USA where they own the rights to the Trademark.
If I buy a trademark of course I will defend it against illegal use.
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