PRODUCT - Music Inc. Magazine

fiSHMAN i lEGAl
Fishman v. Esteban
Trial Begins
The trial resulting from the lawsuit filed by
Andover, Mass.-based Fishman Transducers
on Jan. 17, 2007, against Stephen Paul
(doing business as “Esteban”), Daystar Productions
and HSN Interactive began March
14 in the United States District Court for
the District of Massachusetts. The suit is
for unfair competition, trademark infringement
and false advertising in violation of
the Federal Lanham Act.
Fishman alleged that Esteban, Daystar and
HSN advertised, promoted and sold Esteban
guitars while falsely misrepresenting to the
public that the Esteban guitars were equipped
with Fishman electronic components. According
to the lawsuit, these statements have
been made in television infomercials and
on numerous websites. However, Fishman
claimed it hasn’t sold electronic components
to Esteban or any other party for use in
Esteban guitars, and it has not authorized
either Esteban or Daystar to use the name
and trademark Fishman in promoting or
selling Esteban guitars.
“We are obviously very concerned by
the blatant misconduct of the defendants
identified in our complaint, and we intend
to protect our good name and trademarks
vigorously,” said Larry Fishman, president
of Fishman Transducers. {fishman.com}
QSc i AWARD
QSC’s Star Rises
QSC Chief
Financial Officer
Jatan Shah
recently received
the Orange County
Business Journal
2010 CFO of
the Year Award QSC’s Jatan Shah
(left) with QSC
in the Rising
CEO Joe Pham
Star category.
Held Jan. 18 at the Hyatt Regency
Irvine hotel in Irvine, Calif.,
the fourth annual award ceremony
included panelists from Orange
County Business Journal and
California Society of CPAs.
Shah was selected out of 40
nominees for his integral role in
QSC’s achievements since joining
the company in the spring
of last year. {qscaudio.com}
AMERicAN DJ i TRADEMARK
AdJ, WAL-MART
REACH SETTLEMEnT
American DJ has reached a
settlement with Wal-Mart and
DBL Distributing in a trademark
infringement lawsuit regarding
the American Audio brand. The
suit originally alleged that the two
companies and three other firms
— V2Go Technology, American
Audio Laboratory and Laser Karaoke
— used the American Audio
trademark in advertising, distributing
and promoting unaffiliated
audio products. The terms of the
settlement were undisclosed.
According to American DJ
attorney Kenneth Sherman,
Wal-Mart and DBL were included
because, by distributing and selling
products bearing the American
Audio trademark, they were
trading on the brand’s goodwill.
“The American DJ Group
maintains a strict policy to pursue
all infringers of its intellectual
property rights, including any and
all distributors who traffic in illegal
products bearing any ADJ
mark or brand,” Sherman said.
V2Go Technology, one of the
five defendants named in the
original lawsuit, has also filed for
bankruptcy. “American DJ feels
vindicated that both Wal-Mart and
DBL have recognized ADJ’s rights
with respect to its trademarks in
this regrettable incident,” Sherman
said. “It is unfortunate that
the manufacturer of this product
has been forced into bankruptcy
and that the distributors have
been left fully liable for the resolution.”
{americandj.com}
MAY 2011 I MUSIC INC. I 29