Check out this link from the Salt Lake Tribune regarding the lawsuit filed by Union Pacific on MTH. Perhaps someone at UP is a fan of Lionel.
What goes around does truly come around…
bill
Lets get the funeral pires ready.
I am ready to dance upon the ashes of the fallen warrior.
James
Whooops, Oh Well, s–t happens
Why don’t the UPRR start sueing Railfans for taking photo’s of their Trains.
Oops! Spoke too soon.
Anyone ever hear of charma?
Its about time that MTH go down. It will be good for the industry. Not only because they will stop suing everyone, but if MTH were gone, more companies would produce O scale, that would result in higher prices at the beginning, but eventually competition would lower the cost. Maybe UP’s logo suit has a silver lining?
According to Trains News Wire, UP also has a lawsuit pending against Lionel.
Just goes to show you just because stUPid UP is the so called biggest( NOT THE BEST ) they have the mindset that if they dont like something then they make a program so the next time it happens they can sue they company or person and take everything away from them. I dont care if they were half of the original transcon line, they need to shut up and forget about their stUPid program and get money the way railroads are supposed to. NS and BNSF dont have programs and they do just fine without them, thats what makes them Railroads, right now I classify UP as a Class Crap railroad, not a Class 1. NS didnt get to be the largest automotive shipper in North America by suing people. Lets make a list of Railroads that are doing and did just fine without suing model companies. B&O, C&O, Chessie, Family Lines, Seaboard Coast Line, N&W, N&S, SOU, a crap load of others including ILLINOIS CENTRAL.
Victor
Happy Railroading.[swg][swg]
Victor,
Don’t hold back, what do you REALLY think about UP? [:D]
" …and get money the way railroads are supposed to." [tup][tup] [tup] Amen and amen!
Perhaps subjecting UP management to a prolonged viewing of the old Smith Barney TV ad would have an impact. Smith Barney, “We make money the old fashioned way, we earn it.” One can always hope for enlightenment.
Jon
While I don’t always agree with the way MTH conducts themselves, this UP lawsuit is bad news and bad business all the way around, and shouldn’t be compared with the litigation MTH is involved in. I don’t think defending yourself against blatent product and engineering theft (Lionel), and a countersuit against a company (QSI) who is so bold about it’s postiion it lies to everyone including it’s main OEM partners should make MTH the “bad guy” here. I mean have you read the BS statement on the BLI website homepage lately? I’ve read the court filings, and be assured, QSI fired the first shot, not MTH!
There is no doubt the letters MTH sent out to the DCC manufacturers were very to the point, and probably came off the wrong way for many of them. But the fact is, a letter is not a lawsuit, and warning other competitors about awarded patent rights is also not a lawsuit. If anything, I think MTH was hoping to avoid future litigation issues by issuing the letter, saving all of us money in the long run.
Litigation of this type ultimately only costs the consumers, and I really wish MTH would just comply with UP demands. I mean, if the UP consumers aren’t willing to shell out the extra 5%, MTH and others should just quit producing the models, right? I’m getting very tired of other people defending my right as a consumer, and really wished the decisions were based on our purchasing power, and not litigation… [;)]
Night all!
Jeff
UP will fall someday, it is merely a slow ticking time bomb. It will explode sometime. The time is a mystery but it will happen. Until then all of the modern hobos will have free breakfast as long as they stay by UP tracks and wait for another toaster to catch fire[;)]. UP will get so wrapped up in suing everybody that they will mess up and get sued by the government because they didnt have enough money to pay taxes and other fees and they will die. Any ideas on who will get the burning remains of GE’s project railroad named Union Pacific? I think it will be split up between BNSF, KCS and some others. UP is all about money you would think it is a government railroad, not AMTRAK, thats why UP is named Uncle Pete.
Victor
Happy Railroading.[swg][swg]
BNSF is too busy making money the old fashioned way. While UP is out playing legal eagle we took some of the coal contracts they had! Ahhh let the bleeding begin.
There’s a God in heaven and he really digs pay back!!!
Maybe UP is hoping that beating up on the little guys that model their railroad will take people’s minds off the colossal mismanagement of their primary business (everything from the Houston Meltdown to strings of freight holding on the main waiting for clearance into Tucson).
By the way, is UP planning to sue all the manufacturers who have built or are building Big Boys? How about Bowser, which has been building Challengers for half a century?
Happily for me, I don’t model any US prototype, so this is all academic to me.
I am no fan of MTH, However, it does not help the hobby at all when a toy or model manufacturer is impacted. MTH did negatively impact DCC “with its litigation threat letters” for a while. However, MTH being impacted now, believe it or not, is not helping anyone. A number of our brethren over on the CTT forum run MTH locomotives because of their overall quality and appearance as well as sound system.
Victor (ICMR)
We have to remember…like it or not UP is a typical corporation…just like GM, UPS, Yamaha, IBM, etc.
While we don’t agree with the UP it is their right to harshly defend their trademarks. Also, as strange as it seems with all of the derailments and irritated customers…UP is not going down the tubes… They still manage to score record profits. Don’t blame the railroad…it’s the leadership that dictates the direction. The thousands of other employees (including a friend of mine that used to work with me at a transit authority) are dedicated, hardworking people who take pride in what they do…even with a tough management team.
Think about this…NFL, NBA, and Major League baseball. Look what happens when counterfit perps are caught…they get heavy fines and some even do jail time. Back in the 1980s, WALT DISNEY CORP was going after people (including kids) that were making and selling T-Shirts with Disney characters on them! I remember that unlicensed T-Shirts with Mickey and his pals were selling everywhere, even in retail stores. They quickly dissappeared. UPS (Big Brown) is even worse!
So, don’t let UP’s managment sour you. Remember, it’s the sign of the times. Companies everywhere are taking tough stances on various issues, like trademarking. It’s not just profits, but our lawsuit sick society is also another factor. Accidents involving equipment, machines, or even toys having a comp
Ah but the CSX program is far less intrusive to the manufacturer. Like I said int he other thread, I really don’t have a problem with a corporation requiring some sort of fee to use their trademark, but to require some of the disclosures that UP does is really over the top. And requiring the same for a Fallen Flag… but you can see the extent UP went to to maintain this, since there are issues with a trademark no longer in use, UP went to the expense of having one loco painted for each of the fallen flags now under their control.
I’m no fan of MTH, but someone over there at UP needs to wake up and smell the coffee. SInce Day 1 of this licensing scheme, they have done nothing but generate a lot of ill will by modelers and railfans towards UP. In a time when railroads need all the help they can get with goodwill, they are simply shooting themselves in the foot for a few thousand in revenues.
I don’t model UP or one of their compnent roads, so it doesn’t directly affect me -and I can easily leave off the rolling stock for those western roads without it looking too obvious, so I have no reason to ever purchase anything with UP, MP, WP, or whatever on it.
–Randy
UP should be shut down, do that and bring Con Rail back!!
as moe from the sipmsons said"ill drive a golden spike were your sounern meats your UP" why not drive a spike in UP!!!
This is like watching a wasp and a scorpion fight - someone’s going to get stung but you really don’t mind which!
Over in the O gauge RR forum, this is a very hot topic.
Now, as for the whole issue, UP has stated that it will defend it’s copyright and trademarks very vigorously, and apparently it is.
Now, over here, I am assuming that someone remembers who UP went after already. I recall, that they already went after Atheran, the Newswire stated that Loinel is in litigation (yet) and many others have inked agreements about use of UP’s trademarks. (plural, as in fallen flags)
How/will this affect the decal makers?
This is why I model the Stonycreek Valley!
IMNSHO, this will bring back freelanced layouts!
These lawsuits will corrupt our hobby.[8]
Use this post, and the ones from the past for example. These lawsuits have a way of spawing arguments between us model railroaders. MTH people vs. Lionel people. DCC vs. DCS, UP lovers vs. UP haters. Sooner or later, the arguments will be so bad, that these groups will split permanently, distroying the hobby.[xx(]
Although, I know it will be a cold day in Hell before any of these lawsuits stop, but I wi***hey would, from both the manufacturers and the prototype railroads. They are not bettering our hobby.[B)][V]