"Monster vs Monster" Pits Goliath Cable Maker Against David-Sized Mini Golf Company

Posted 12/05/2008 at 1:54pm | by Mark Edward Soper

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Let's play word association: I say "Monster" - what would you say? You might say ".com" (popular job hunting site), or "Green" (Fenway Park's famous left-field wall), or "Frankenstein" (doctor? monster? both!), or you might even say "Cable" as in Monster Cable. However, as far as Monster Cable is concerned, the only "Monster" they seem to believe in is their own trademark.

As TechDirt reported this week, Monster Cable's busy suing almost every company with "Monster" in the name for alleged trademark infringement. Monster Cable's latest target is a Rhode Island-based miniature golf company called Monster Mini Golf. The company is already looking at a cool $100G in legal fees because of the litigation with Monster Cable. To learn how the mini-golfers are fighting back, join us after the jump.

Monster Mini Golf is fighting back in two ways:

• They've posted a web page called "Stop the Bully" with their story and links to many other similar accounts; the page also has a Donate button.
• They're running an eBay "buy it now" listing for a $2.00 off coupon to Monster Mini Golf for $1.00, and the page also tells the story of their fight with Monster Cable. According to the listing, Monster Cable has forced over 400 companies to settle their alleged trademark violations by licensing the name "Monster" for an up-front fee and a cut of the company's sales.

How do you feel about these tactics? If you're a Monster Cable user, does this change how you view the company? Hit Comment to sound off.