$30K Worth of Multimeters Must Be Destroyed Because They're Yellow

An anonymous reader points out a post at the blog of Sparkfun, a hobbyist electronics retailer. They recently received a letter from U.S. Customs saying a shipment of 2,000 multimeters was being barred from entry into the country. The reason? Trademark law. A company named Fluke holds a trademark on multimeters that have a 'contrasting yellow border.' Sparkfun's multimeters are a yellowish orange, but it was enough for Customs to stop the shipment. Returning the shipment is not an option because of import taxes in China, so the multimeters must now be destroyed. At $15 per item, it'll cost Sparkfun $30,000, plus the $150/hr fee for destroying them. Sparkfun had no idea about the trademark, and doesn't mind changing the color, but they say restrictions like these are a flaw in the trademark system. "Small business does not have the resources to stay abreast of all trademarks for all the products they don't carry. If you’re going to put the onus on the little guy to avoid infringing IP then you shouldn't need an army of consultants or attorneys to find this information."

Damn, donate them already

[geekmux]

Schools are struggling to find the funds to replace textbooks, let alone put their hands on some good hardware like this, and we can't find some way to donate this hardware instead of destroying it? Who cares if the legal document states that no one over the age of 18 is allowed to posses it, at least let someone get some use out of it.

Talk about stupid.

Support the customs bureaucrat.

[140Mandak262Jamuna]

This is the sparkfun multimeter: https://www.sparkfun.com/produ... [sparkfun.com] These are the look and feel of Fluke: https://www.google.com/search?... [google.com] I am glad the customs caught and destroyed the Sparkfun's imitations. I might have a different perspective on this than most (native born) Americans. I grew up in India where the " look and feel " infringement is rampant, and there is absolutely no enforcement. The best quality steel cases are made by a company called Godrej. I have seen cheap knock-offs with barely perceptible difference in name "Golred" Godrel" "Gotrej" etc etc.You have to be very careful when you buy stuff. The electrical fittings made by a company called Bos is top of the line. They will pack cheap knock offs inside discarded packaging of Bos and try to sell it to you. You need to fight the retailer, wholesaler and the manufacturer to get the right product. Have you seen "Clogged" tooth paste? Funny as it is, it exists/existed in India sometime back.

But most Americans born here grew up with more honest set of retailers, more honest wholesalers, reasonably effective enforcement, they have not had this cheap imitation knock off problem. The worst you would see is the Walmart brand (Equate?) of nasal spray next to one made by J&J. If you had never gone home and opened a package of Cynthol bar soap and find inside a foul smelling skin abrading cake of caustic alkali with Sinthol stamped on it, you have not been affected by these knock-offs. So all the power to customs agents to spot the cheap knock-offs and take suo moto action to knock the imitations off the planet.

Re:Did Fluke request this?

[MobSwatter]

Isn't corporate lobbying and market capitalization grand? Events like this put the little guy out of business to the point of where they only have rocks to fight with. The downside of this stateside beyond stifling innovation is corporate fear of reprisal and loss of everything your forefathers bled for. This sort of thing is not just happening in the tech sector, it is happening across the board. So if your okay with it join the party, but you'll have to check your rights and freedoms at the door.

Re:To be fair...

[jandrese]

Sparkfun is also somewhat notorious about copying products in the Arduino peripheral space as well. For almost every Adafruit product, there is a Sparkfun version that is nearly identical, except that you have to go to Adafruit to get the code. Since it's open hardware this is legal, but one would prefer if the company innovated a bit more instead of just copying everything they see. I don't feel too sorry for them getting burned by it here.