Is this legal?

Probably. I wouldn't call them identical, I'd call them similar. How many bookshelf speakers with 6" woofers and 1" tweeters are there? With your logic, the guy who threw the first one together would own the copyright and everyone else would be barred from making them. Horn loaded speakers have been around since the 30s.

Just some FYI-the Klipsch's and the BIC's are NOT the same, they are designed and produced by 2 different manufacturers. The horns of the tweeters are not the same shape. The sub is made for BIC by hsu and is a great sub. The question is whether this site can sell the BIC's or not, that is the question. Dennis

There's little to stop any company from directly copying any other company's product unless it has patented technology or design. For instance, Harley tried to protect its style, but couldn't. It *could* protect the "potato, potato, potato" sound based on its own unique engine design. So, now you can buy a Honda that looks almost identical in every last detail to a Fat Boy, except that it's cheaper and has a better engine (and still handles like crap).


Sony makes a speaker that is a dead-ringer (pardon the pun) for the CDM9/703 and is $900. Yellow cone and all.

What I meant was they are so similar and they're catch phrase for them is "Better than Klipsch" which seems like advertising that could get someone in trouble. When you click on the "Klipsch Speakers" link it brings you to the BIC clones which seems to be rather underhanded. If someone wasn't paying attention or didn't know better they could easily figure they are buying the Klipsch BIC model.

On the other hand I do like the sound of Klipsch speakers and if these speakers are actually as good as the Klipsch (which I doubt) or even close for the price they could be a pretty decent buy.


young...

Did you know that Miller Lite is better tasting and less filling than Bud Lite?


Marketing speak.

Triad has had two "reputable" speaker manufacturers knock off an inwall model in our Omni series. One company introduced this clone about three years ago, for $100 more each, and in an enclosure with the rigidity of a saltine box.


The most recent knock off of our Gold Omni is a closer copy. Even more amazing is the piece of literature I picked up at CES used OUR PHOTOGRAPH of the speaker, with some clumsy Photoshop to make it look a little different. Classy, eh?


My philosophy is "The eagle soars; he does not swoop" so we may do nothing. Or...

If you do a search here for the "acoustech" (sp?) brand name, you will find some discussion about the speakers. Not surprisingly, opinions were all over the board, as some found them to be "Klipsch" like and others just found them to be cheap. They were sold at Costco for a while. I helped a friend of my son install his, and to me, with correspondingly inexpensive electronics, they were painfully bright. I wouldn't buy them without hearing them first (or without a clear understanding of the return policy), and I think there are much better choices in the $700 price range from Athena, Def Tech, Klipsch(!) and others. YMMV,


John

I guess it just irked me a bit when I saw it the first time. I clicked on a link to what I believed was going to be Klipsch speakers and voila, BIC knockoffs. It (IMHO) just seemed a little sneaky, enough to not want to buy from them.


young...


Just my 2 cents on this.

I still don't get what is copyrightable about a speaker.

Well, the photos for one.


But copyright may not rule with the speakers themselves. An argument could be made with the recent interpretations in service marks and trademarks, though. Also, the original could be using some 3rd party licenses which the knock-off might infringe (and not be aware of).


Unfortunately, enforcement is up to the aggrieved party and would be expensive even in a win.

"the photos for one"


that would work only if they copied someone's photos.


I can see how trademark law could apply, but the likelihood of confusion among the consumers of this technology and in this price range would hardly make it an easy case.

Quote:
Yeah, and Coors Lite is the coldest tasting beer. How do they know how cold my ice box is?


Scott

There is no copyright protection for industrial designs in the US, except for boat hulls.