[Makiah S]

Quote:

I only read the first couple of pages, but I didn't see anything on here about race. When people buy beats, they're buying status, history, and the struggles of black man who fought his way up into fame and influence. This is something not only the black community buy into, but any teen or adult for that matter who's been been kicked around and shoved in the dirt. Yeah, sure to us head-fiers who can drop hundreds or even several grand on headphones and weigh out the subtle nuances of sound stage, pitch range and all that, Beats are joke! When you're struggling to get by with what you have, and someone buys you a pair of beats, or you finally save up enough to buy them yourself, they blow away that $20.00 pair of skull candy you've been hanging on to for the past couple years, and maybe it's all in your head, but people on the street look at you with respect. There's a guy with money. There's a guy who's made something of himself. There's the guy I'm gonna mug!
 
Now as all of you were saying, yeah, they look very similar. Yeah, Yamaha knew what they were doing. Are they close enough for lawsuit? That's all up to the judge. If it's true that Yamaha was only sued for $75,000, then it's very possible Monster didn't expect it to even go to court. I'd imagine that's pretty close to what the lawyers are going to make.
 
The real question is, do you think I can get some Yamaha stickers to put over my Studio Beats so I don't get mugged?
 

And there it is! Yea I live in a... ghetto neighborhood! And yes Beats are a status thing! Just like having a nice "hat" or a pair of awesome Jays [or what ever those shoes are called] and I'm not talking about any one race, since americans of all kinds. As Deviate mentioned.
 
But I mean people should just be more aware of actually GOOD headphones, still though props to monster for capitalzing on that culture! I still hope they lose though... this is the United States, every on from every where does everything! Shame on Yahama for copying them but seriously... they aren't the only ones lol. But again monster might be working towards making a better name for it self, amoungst audiophiles and sound concious people. So maybe taking Yahama down is the first step in their approaching a new market... who knows xD

 

[GREQ]

Quote:

 
This is a joke, right?
Certainly made me laugh 

Most beats are seen worn around the neck; this symbolises a broken chain which demonstrates their freedom.... or whatever.

 

[streetdragon]

Quote:

Most beats are seen worn around the neck; this symbolises a broken chain which demonstrates their freedom.... or whatever.

shouldn't it mean that they are being chained instead? since people can grab the wire and swing/fling them around by the neck if they are strong enough.....

 

[kr0gg]

"struggles of black man who fought his way up into fame and influence" made me laugh.
 
it's true, but... in the end Dre needed that influence so that he could rip off poor teenagers.
 
get to the top of the hill and humiliate those who are at the bottom.
 
not quite THE american dream, eh?

 

[Armaegis]

Quote:

get to the top of the hill and humiliate those who are at the bottom.
 
not quite THE american dream, eh?

 
Sounds pretty close to the American Dream to me...
 
/cynic

 

[odiolopithecool]

Easy to see around beats are more a matter of style than quality
and a simply : "you like music ? So quality ? This kind of style too ?! 

 Here is something for your MONEY..."  from yamaha.

 

[Makiah S]

Quote:

 
Sounds pretty close to the American Dream to me...
 
/cynic

Ikr <.<
 
still I also agree Beats are a serious fashion assecory! Some guys where em in place of hats... I saw a dude tilt his beats the wrong direction once... he got jumped... 

 

[Dr4Bob]

I think "Dr." Dre and Ludacris did about as much design work on their repective namesake headphones as Mike Tyson did on the electric grill which bears his name or the latest fragrance "by" Jennifer Lopez... At least the Yamaha seeks no such absurd labels.
 
As to the styling similarity, the lawyers and courts will decide who profits. I predict the largest profit will be that of the attorneys.

 

[Makiah S]

Quote:

I think "Dr." Dre and Ludacris did about as much design work on their repective namesake headphones as Mike Tyson did on the electric grill which bears his name or the latest fragrance "by" Jennifer Lopez... At least the Yamaha seeks no such absurd labels.
 
As to the styling similarity, the lawyers and courts will decide who profits. I predict the largest profit will be that of the attorneys.

... True that dude!  

 

[Raphael K]

Quote:

"struggles of black man who fought his way up into fame and influence" made me laugh.
 
it's true, but... in the end Dre needed that influence so that he could rip off poor teenagers.
 
get to the top of the hill and humiliate those who are at the bottom.
 
not quite THE american dream, eh?

 
Perfectly agree !

 

[JuanseAmador]

What about them copying Shure.

i was just about to say that






just maybe not as obvious as yamaha's attempt though

IMO, Beats are way more similar to Shure's, than the Yamaha's to Beats.

 

[Billyjoegunrack]

Quote:

IMO, Beats are way more similar to Shure's, than the Yamaha's to Beats.

 
I think of the:
 

[size=1.6em] Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon.[/size]

 

[jude]

Quote:

IMO, Beats are way more similar to Shure's, than the Yamaha's to Beats.

 
Earlier in the thread, I posted this, but you probably didn't see it. Beats was out with the Studio (in 2008) before Shure had released any of its SRH over-ears (in 2009). Of course, I'm not suggesting that Shure copied Beats, or vice-versa--only that it seems unlikely Beats copied Shure, per those dates.

 

[n9eryeah]

interesting

 

[guerillaw]

Quote:

 
I'm not a lawyer, but I have worked with IP rights in the tech industry and the above is misleading for a layman I think: it makes it sound as if Beats could have lucked into a patent that should never have been granted, and if so there is nothing Yamaha can do. This is far, far, very far from the truth: getting a patent is relatively easy, but defending it is very hard. Getting the patent only requires that your claims pass a relatively cursory examination on uniqueness, etc. Defending requires a much higher level of proof against a determined opponent, because they will countersuit to show that the patent should not have been granted. E.g.
 
 
This is very important because often the originality/significance grounds of the patent are complete bs and the Patent Office has failed to notice this. For example, I saw an example for an audioprocessing techology that attempted to restrict any competing technology from being based on ANY psychoasoustic model. This is, of course, insane.

 
Your point is very well taken. I presume, however, that a large company like monster would have done their due diligence and put forward a fairly bulletproof initial patent application.
 
Again though, your point is very well taken. Yamaha is still able to challenge the validity of the initial patent to some degree. I would just be surprised if monster made that initial error given the size and nature of the company.