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Do you guys want double cream pickups?

Dave P

Well-known member
Joined
Oct 13, 2001
Messages
976
Tired of having Larry Dimarzio push around small pickup winders for making double cream pickups?

Well, don't just sit there, print out this form: www.echoesofmars.com/Declaration_DiMarzio_Pickups_2017March7_03277903-2.doc

State why you would like to have other options other than Dimarzio on the second page, sign it, scan it, and email it to: iwantdoublecream@gmail.com

The deadline is March 13th.

There is an attorney handling this, so now is your chance to make your voice heard. If you don't, then don't whine when your favorite pickup winder won't make you a double cream pickup.
 

Macleod

New member
Joined
Sep 30, 2002
Messages
514
I want to provide a little more information to what Dave said above.

Last year, Sheptone was sued by Dimarzio.

At about the same time, someone filed a petition to cancel the Mark with the USPTO. Just a regular guitar player. To date, he has spent $10,000 on attorney fees.

The USPTO has requested additional evidence that people other than The Petitioner are affected by the cream trademark.

Since YOU are not free to choose your favorite brand in any color, then YOU are affected.

We (all pickup makers) are asked to violate this trademark on a daily basis, putting our livelihood and our financial state at risk. We are not allowed the freedom to compete effectively.

Please make your voice heard. Download and print, then sign and write a declaration of why you are affected, and scan or photograph well and email it to the address Dave gave above.
These are being collected by the attorney to show tha the guitar playing community is affected.

Petition.JPG
 

dtw576

New member
Joined
Feb 23, 2003
Messages
1,934
Shall do. I had no idea it was this serious. My favorite pickup guy, a well know maker of very expensive H pickups, will do double cream for me and did last year. But I didn't know that Dimarzio would go to such lengths to hurt him and you others. So I'm in for what it is worth. And my gigging days are behind me.
 

renderit

Well-known member
Joined
Jan 19, 2009
Messages
10,951
I did it. I am now praying I did not just sign up for a thrice-daily download of Jubblies...
 

Macleod

New member
Joined
Sep 30, 2002
Messages
514
Shall do. I had no idea it was this serious. My favorite pickup guy, a well know maker of very expensive H pickups, will do double cream for me and did last year. But I didn't know that Dimarzio would go to such lengths to hurt him and you others. So I'm in for what it is worth. And my gigging days are behind me.

Thanks, you two!
Yes, Dimarzio will and does.. They actually had a decoy who purchased double creams from Shep... then sued him...
 

dtw576

New member
Joined
Feb 23, 2003
Messages
1,934
Thanks, you two!
Yes, Dimarzio will and does.. They actually had a decoy who purchased double creams from Shep... then sued him...
Well, in Texas vernacular, that's chicken shit. My declaration was just emailed. Good luck.
 

SpencerD

Active member
Joined
Mar 11, 2016
Messages
910
I'm on it Wolfe.

Our short friend with a big moustache wound me up some double cream Herc model pups way back when. The most excellent P90's [ double cream] I have in my Les Paul Deluxe are also made by a badass man....in Washington state. :dude:
 

Monroe

Active member
Joined
Mar 11, 2008
Messages
1,139
I don't have a scanner.... is the a snail-mail address?
 

becks bolero

New member
Joined
Jul 15, 2001
Messages
1,810
that is indeed bullshit. glad we are getting a chance to contribute.


will sign & email in


cheers
 

jbzoso2002

New member
Joined
May 10, 2009
Messages
1,089
I prefer double cream uncovered in bridge on my LP.

Im on it count me in!!!

Jimmy:paf
 

DvnLesPaul

All Access/Backstage Pass
Joined
Sep 17, 2002
Messages
816
Just picked up a 2010 R9 that had NOS wire Throbaks SLE-101's in uncovered double cream. And, since I'm absolutely stoked about it, I sent in the form to help keep the dream alive!
 

duaneflowers

Well-known member
Joined
Aug 13, 2013
Messages
2,522
I think Wolfe and Dave are doing a great job in getting the word out there to fight this injustice. I agree that the USPTO was erroneous in issuing the TM, but without access to all the documentation and purported behind the scenes dealings, there really is no way of knowing what was going on at the time the nod was given. That being said, with Gibson's lack of interest in pursuing this, and also a resounding lack of interest by the very winders that it impacts, it is apparently up to 'we the people' to correct the situation.

Aesthetically, I believe we, as end users, have the right to choose the color schemes for our guitars without the government enforcing Dimarzio's monopolization of the use of cream bobbins... which was inadvertently being done years before Dimarzio ever started winding pickups. Just because he was the first to set his lawyers loose on countering whatever office actions led to the issuance of the mark doesn't give him rights to it and it is not too late to do something about it. I find the way that Larry bullies small winders to be in very poor form, and it ensures that I will never buy a set of his pickups as a result.

Equally as questionable, but perhaps more difficult to reverse, is Dimarzio's ownership of the PAF trademark as well. IMHO attempts to copy Gibson's PAFs are not, and should not, be limited to Dimarzios. He did not apply for the patent in question and played absolutely no part in it or its popularity and should not be rewarded for what I'm sure he perceives as a shrewd business move. That mark also needs to be quashed.

There are far too many trademarks and copyrights being pushed through the patent office by patent agents on little to no merit... if these do not affect you now, there is a good chance they will someday... and now is your chance to make sure that doesn't happen. Efforts may come to naught, however, failure to participate and/or complacency will not benefit anyone except Larry and his team of lawyers. Submit the form... it is such an easy thing to do... DO IT RIGHT NOW!!! Please... :salude
 

Macleod

New member
Joined
Sep 30, 2002
Messages
514
I don't have a scanner.... is the a snail-mail address?

As someole else said, take a picture with your phone or other camera. As long as the text is legible, it should be fine.


I'm on it Wolfe.

Our short friend with a big moustache wound me up some double cream Herc model pups way back when. The most excellent P90's [ double cream] I have in my Les Paul Deluxe are also made by a badass man....in Washington state. :dude:

Just spoke with Jim a couple weeks ago, after finding we had something unexpected in common. He's lucky I wasn't standing next to him. He would have been the recipient of the world's most aggressive handshake. haha
 

GreenBurst

Active member
Joined
Mar 5, 2004
Messages
748
I gotta ask. What would happen if a pickup winder offered bobbins in 'egg shell'?

Basically, not use the words 'double cream'.

I haven't looked up the trademark. But, I assume it would be much harder to prove when the color description was different. Given that colours are difficult to reproduce online and also vary based on individual computer monitors. It seems like a safe approach. It can't be any worse than using the words 'double cream'.

How would they trademark the actual colour? What if a pickup winder just changed the shade slightly? Is there even an agreed upon proper cream shade?

Just some thoughts on an easier approach than litigation.

Would welcome other's input.
 

Macleod

New member
Joined
Sep 30, 2002
Messages
514
I gotta ask. What would happen if a pickup winder offered bobbins in 'egg shell'?

Basically, not use the words 'double cream'.

I haven't looked up the trademark. But, I assume it would be much harder to prove when the color description was different. Given that colours are difficult to reproduce online and also vary based on individual computer monitors. It seems like a safe approach. It can't be any worse than using the words 'double cream'.

How would they trademark the actual colour? What if a pickup winder just changed the shade slightly? Is there even an agreed upon proper cream shade?

Just some thoughts on an easier approach than litigation.

Would welcome other's input.


The trademark does not cover the name or words "double cream" -- it is actually a registration for the color itself as applied to a humbucker.
The trademark is very broad, stating "resembles the distinctive shade of cream" without actually defining what "cream" is.

You can see all of the paperwork in a directory on my website that I have collected here: http://www.wolfetone.com/trademark

In this directory, the Cream.pdf file is all of the paperwork they ever filed to get and maintain the trademark.
Chrome.pdf is a 2005/6 attempt at registering yet another color. It was refused by the USPTO due to color being found aesthetically functional.

Other files are legal papers and journals written about trademark law that deal with situations like this....some from law professors. As well as advertisements showing the cream color being used concurrently by other companies before registration... and quite a bit of other stuff relating to it. Only the tip of the iceberg.
 
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