Kurt Denke of Blue Jeans Cable speaks out on the Monster Mini Golf Situation.

As the classic film Frankenstein teaches us, much can be accomplished by an angry band of villagers wielding torches and pitchforks--at least, when there is a monster on the loose. As those who have followed the story of Monster Mini Golf will already be well aware, there is a Monster in the audio/video cable industry's midst, and it, like the monsters of the big screen, requires a mass response. Well, okay, not one involving torches and pitchforks as such, but a mass response nonetheless.

Monster Mini Golf, a small franchise business owned by Christina Vitagliano of Providence, Rhode Island, has been sued in United States District Court by Monster Cable of Brisbane, California. The basis of the suit is that Monster Cable asserts that the use of the term "Monster" in Monster Mini Golf's trade name and marks infringes Monster Cable's various registered marks.

There has been so much editorializing on the merits -- or lack of merits -- of this suit that there is really very little more to say. Suffice it to say that we believe that Monster Mini Golf will, and must, win this suit. As we all know, regardless of the merits of a lawsuit, the burdens of litigation can be harsh. I personally spent a couple of decades in the practice of federal litigation, and it can be long, hard and costly; and I, like Ms. Vitagliano, have been threatened with meritless litigation by Monster Cable (for details, see Blue Jeans Cable Strikes Back). We at Blue Jeans Cable, though having no business affiliation of any kind with Monster Mini Golf, feel a deep sense of kinship and common cause with Ms. Vitagliano and her struggle to protect her business from predation.

Torches and pitchforks, however, will not do the job in this particular case. The battle here must be done by lawyers, and that costs money. To date, Ms. Vitagliano has incurred a legal bill running into six figures, and she can use all the help she can get to carry on the fight. We are working to aid the Monster Mini Golf defense in two ways.

First, Blue Jeans Cable will match contributions to Monster Mini Golf's defense fund, up to a total of one thousand dollars, made through > this page on our site <



Second, we are placing several products on a special Torches and Pitchforks" Promotion. We will donate, without limit, ten percent of our gross revenue from this promotion to Monster Mini Golf's legal defense. This promotion runs through December 15; if you need cables, have a look.

I have spoken at length with Ms. Vitagliano and she is a real fighter. I believe that if she can stay the course and fight the good fight, Monster Cable will lose this lawsuit. That loss will not only bring relief to Monster Mini Golf, but will put a powerful precedent in the hand of every owner of a trade name containing the word "Monster" to fight back against meritless trademark litigation. Too many people cave in to these threats; let's do what we can to encourage Ms. Vitagliano to carry on.

Kurt Denke

Blue Jeans Cable