Cable Company Wages War on Monsters

Company takes on more monsters than Godzilla in fight to protect trademark
By Rob Quinn,  Newser Staff
Posted Apr 4, 2009 8:18 AM CDT
Cable Company Wages War on Monsters
Monster Cable opposed Boston Red Sox trademark applications for merchandise featuring mascot Wally the Green Monster.   (AP Photo/Winslow Townson)

High-end audio cable maker Monster Cable has been taking on every monster it can find in a battle to safeguard its trademark, the Wall Street Journal reports. The company has sued makers of monster-branded products from carpet cleaners to energy drinks, along with job-search site Monster.com, and even the makers of Monsters Inc. in a campaign critics say amounts to monstrous bullying.

The company, saying it is just trying to protect a famous trademark, denies accusations that it’s attempting to corner the market on the word monster. It has fought around 190 monster battles in the patent office and 30 in federal court, but has backed off a few times: One suit against Monster Mini Golf was dropped after it attracted a fearsome amount of bad publicity.
(More Monster.com stories.)

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