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SparkFun: We Hear You
81–90 of 160 posts
Re: SparkFun: We Hear You
#82Earlier quoted context omitted.
As Fluke said, they want customers to know that if a product appears to be a Fluke, then they can safely use it in a high-voltage environment. The implication is that no, they are not going to permit them to enter the US. It's very classy of them to make Sparkfun whole.
As I said, Sparkfun could rework them domestically to change their appearance, avoiding destruction and avoiding sending them back to China. Also, does anyone have tips on how to get the smell out after accidentally using an overripe banana to "test" my breaker panel? I thought checking the color would be sufficiently safe :/
Oh, did your banana have "CAT III Max 600V" stencilled on it? The $15 multimeter does. I suspect the cheap meter has about the same right to wear that label as the banana.
Re: SparkFun: We Hear You
#83[deleted]
Summary of events leading to this response: SparkFun has been selling a type of inexpensive digital multimeter since 2008. About two weeks ago, they were informed that a recent shipment of 2,000 units (a $30,000 value) was seized by customs due to a trademark owned by Fluke (granted 2003). Specifically, their units violate Fluke's branding (gray face, yellow border). The Chinese manufacturer won't take them back (pro…
Craftsman multimeters are red. Hahaha.
Re: SparkFun: We Hear You
#84Earlier quoted context omitted.
Actually no, in fact it's counterproductive. That's a mindless aphorism thrown about to deflect blame from the actual people responsible for decisions, similar to "companies are legally required to maximize profit".
Wrong: http://www.inta.org/TrademarkBasics/FactSheets/Pages/LossofT... This is trademark law 101, not a 'mindless aphorism.' Any trademark lawyer will tell you that firms need to police the use of their marks if they wish to courts to enforce their rights in the mark. What basis do you have for claiming otherwise?
Please read my follow up response (https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7439468). The legal environment is one specific context. I don't go around saying 'syntax error!' to anyone who misspeaks.
Re: SparkFun: We Hear You
#85Earlier quoted context omitted.
A nicer solution could have been: Fluke: "We'll swap your 2000 chinese multimeters with 2000 Fluke multimeters. We will send the non-fluke multimeters to under-funded universities in africa/asia/wherever."
That would still dilute the mark. Fluke had a lot of options and it looks like they took the best one.
Do they really have a trademark for yellow multimeters in e.g. Tanzania?
Re: SparkFun: We Hear You
#86Earlier quoted context omitted.
A nicer solution could have been: Fluke: "We'll swap your 2000 chinese multimeters with 2000 Fluke multimeters. We will send the non-fluke multimeters to under-funded universities in africa/asia/wherever."
They are donating the multimeters, that's what the Sparkfun blog says at least: https://www.sparkfun.com/news/1428
Awesome!
Re: SparkFun: We Hear You
#87Am I the only one that is finding their response to be unsatisfactory? Let me translate it for everyone: "Hey, we realize how much it sucks that your merchandise was seized and will now be destroyed. As far as that goes, well...too bad. _However_, we'll allow you just this once to distribute our own merchandise and spread awareness of our brand name for us." Is this really a fair deal? Does SparkFun really want to be…
"Admirable" in a very narrow sense, perhaps: they've snowed both Sparkfun and the general public, and have strengthened a dubious trademark to boot.
Re: SparkFun: We Hear You
#88Can't they just make a (maybe 3d printed) stencil, and then spray paint the devices a different color? Sure, it could rightfully add 3-4 dollars of cost to each device, but it makes more sense than just destroying them.
Re: SparkFun: We Hear You
#89Earlier quoted context omitted.
As I said, Sparkfun could rework them domestically to change their appearance, avoiding destruction and avoiding sending them back to China. Also, does anyone have tips on how to get the smell out after accidentally using an overripe banana to "test" my breaker panel? I thought checking the color would be sufficiently safe :/
Oh, did your banana have "CAT III Max 600V" stencilled on it? The $15 multimeter does. I suspect the cheap meter has about the same right to wear that label as the banana.
Does Sparkfun's product actually fail in 590V environments? That seems like a more serious concern tha branding.
Re: SparkFun: We Hear You
#90Earlier quoted context omitted.
As Fluke said, they want customers to know that if a product appears to be a Fluke, then they can safely use it in a high-voltage environment. The implication is that no, they are not going to permit them to enter the US. It's very classy of them to make Sparkfun whole.
The safety argument is a bit weak. There's nothing stopping anyone at Fluke from shipping poorly performing devices with Fluke branding. This happened for instance with Pyrex, when they changed the glass so it wasn't as strong. Anyone counting on the Pyrex to not explode under certain conditions was in for a nasty surprise. The argument about trademark needs to stand on its own, without the argument that the current…
Pyrex brand owners trashed their own brand and hurt their customers. That's there choice, not someone else's.