Double Cream not allowed anymore?

Re: Double Cream not allowed anymore?

Kam said:
If I may interject with my completely useless opinion at this point -- Double creme humbuckers are ****ing ugly.
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I don't think they're ugly, but nowadays I'm thinking they're kind of bland. The color was huge in the late 70s and 80s, maybe even the 90s, but I'm liking zebra and black a helluva lot more nowadays. As a matter of fact, I just removed a zebra Super Distortion in my Tobacco colored Agile 2000 and put in my Brobucker, which is double cream, and I really, really miss the zebra. However, imo the Brobucker sounds so much better than the Super Distortion, the color has to be overlooked. I can always put a cover on it like I did before, but I like the contrast as well. I also always had double cream pickups and pickup rings on my black Les Paul, and awhile back when I had such a hard time finding double cream replacement pickups, I just went with black. I absolutely love the look now of the black guitar with the cream rings and black pickups. And recently I ripped out the two Dimarzio pickups in it and replaced them with a set of A2Ps which sound killer. Much better than the PAF bridge I had. Yep, Dimarzio can keep the double creams now for all I care. I still love the sound of a Super Distortion, but there always seems to be a Duncan that just has a little more oomph.
 
Re: Double Cream not allowed anymore?

lol... I beg to differ...

w1.jpg
 
Re: Double Cream not allowed anymore?

NICE CHARVEL BRO!!! I like that color scheme a lot!:) did i wind up with the stock duncans from her?
 
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Re: Double Cream not allowed anymore?

Patents and trademarks are not the same thing. A patent runs out, trademarks are forever. Patents are also about function, trademarks are aesthetic.
 
Re: Double Cream not allowed anymore?

uOpt said:
The only proper answer to Dimarzio's abuse of the American intellectual property system (both trademarks and patents) always was to boycott their products.

If Larry wants to sell more pickups, maybe he should make better pickups?
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You're right, your option at that point if you don't agree with someone's trademark is to boycott their product.

But why is it an abuse of the american intellectual property system because he's enforcing a trademark that he's registered? Last time I checked, that was legal and not an abuse at all-- hell, it's the POINT of registering a trademark! What would be the point of having a trademark on something if you don't enforce it?

Seems like if people are gonna ***** about it, they should realize that it's trademark law they have a problem with, and that the double cream thing is just the particular example that really gets their goat. Because Dimarzio is perfectly within their rights to enforce their trademark if they have one.

Now if you don't like Dimarzio pickups because you don't like the sound of them, that's a whole other story.
 
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Re: Double Cream not allowed anymore?

It is true why would you trademark something if you aren't going to enforce it, but yeah I guess for pickup users this is a pain, but c'est la vie what can you do no point to complain better off just finding ways around it.
 
Re: Double Cream not allowed anymore?

Finding a better pickup in a color that's not DC is a good "screw you!" to those who don't like the DC trademark and those who enforce it..
 
Re: Double Cream not allowed anymore?

appar111 said:
\
But why is it an abuse of the american intellectual property system because he's enforcing a trademark that he's registered? Last time I checked, that was legal and not an abuse at all-- hell, it's the POINT of registering a trademark! What would be the point of having a trademark on something if you don't enforce it?

Seems like if people are gonna ***** about it, they should realize that it's trademark law they have a problem with, and that the double cream thing is just the particular example that really gets their goat. Because Dimarzio is perfectly within their rights to enforce their trademark if they have one.

Now if you don't like Dimarzio pickups because you don't like the sound of them, that's a whole other story.
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The authorities shouldn't allow a color trademark in this case because obviously there were double creme humbuckers before and because the three color combinations (black, zerba, creme) run out quickly and a few other arguments that make this different from the 1995 case.

The authorities probably would not let this stand.

But SD cannot afford to sue about it. As you have seen in the link I posted a previous color trademark suit went all the way to the Supreme Court of the United States. That costs millions of dollars, actually rather tens of millions tdaoy. Competent trademark and patent lawyers these days (not in 1995) cannot be had for less than $600/hour. That's because other crazy cases (namely in software) use up the available lawyers.

So Larry sits on his "interesting" trademark just because the competition cannot afford to have it tested. That is abuse. I don't care how nice Larry can talk to you on a trade show. All this is done on his orders.
 
Re: Double Cream not allowed anymore?

I'm sure some people will faint when I say this, but I finally got the cover off of my Seth bridge (Exacto-knife + soldering iron is the magic combo), and I was disappointed to find that it was double cream. I was really hoping for double-black, and I could have lived with zebra, but I really don't like the aesthetics of double-cream.
 
Re: Double Cream not allowed anymore?

Seems to me that he trademarked just the exact "mark" that is shown in the patent document. I would think that if another manufacturers product varied by any amount, such as different shade from that in the doc, or if the dimensions were slightly different, that it wouldn't be infringement.
I have to admit that it's an absolutely absurd trademark, based on the industry.
Why doesn't someone trademark a few of the color combinations that larry offers (he has a ton of color options)... unless he has them all trademarked?
 
Re: Double Cream not allowed anymore?

MattPete said:
I'm sure some people will faint when I say this, but I finally got the cover off of my Seth bridge (Exacto-knife + soldering iron is the magic combo), and I was disappointed to find that it was double cream. I was really hoping for double-black, and I could have lived with zebra, but I really don't like the aesthetics of double-cream.
Click to expand...

When your part Viking, the Exacto knife will do .....no need for the soldering iron
 
Re: Double Cream not allowed anymore?

I think double creams look awesome as long as the binding is cream. On an LPC with white binding, double black or double white is the way to go.

I like the idea of taking one coil from a zebra and another from a reverse zebra. It's a PITA, clearly, but it might be the only way to get what you want.

Also, "Double Cream" should be the name of a porno.
 
Re: Double Cream not allowed anymore?

RLee said:
Seems to me that he trademarked just the exact "mark" that is shown in the patent document. I would think that if another manufacturers product varied by any amount, such as different shade from that in the doc, or if the dimensions were slightly different, that it wouldn't be infringement.
Click to expand...

I thought that, too.

If this is really about the Super Distortion in double cream, then limit the trademark to double creams with two rows of hex poles. I think most people could live without a Full Shred in double creme.

Would make a lot more sense but I don't think sense is what DiMarzio is after here.

RLee said:
I have to admit that it's an absolutely absurd trademark, based on the industry.
Why doesn't someone trademark a few of the color combinations that larry offers (he has a ton of color options)... unless he has them all trademarked?
Click to expand...

You have to be able to claim 10 years of exclusive use. Mind you claim not proof. The fact that Duncan couldn't proof any double creames during the 10 years Larry claimed was sufficient for the trademark to stand.
 
Re: Double Cream not allowed anymore?

Oh yeah, and having said this...

Kam said:
If I may interject with my completely useless opinion at this point -- Double creme humbuckers are ****ing ugly.
Click to expand...


...I just bought a Super D in double creme.

I'm Kam and I'm a hypocrite. :friday:
 
Re: Double Cream not allowed anymore?

I have been trying to decide how I feel about this, and it just came to me. If Larry cared more about guitar players and less about money, this wouldn't be a problem. Thus, Larry is a ????

Fortunately, I have an old Duncan Custom that is Double Cream in my Goldtop. ;)
 
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