Geoffrey McCabe, an inventor and guitarist, has sued Floyd Rose Guitars and distributor Davitt & Hanser Music for patent infringement. McCabe says Floyd Rose “willfully infringed and continues to infringe on” five McCabe patents. According to the 22-page lawsuit, filed in the Southern District of California, in the late 1980s, McCabe invented “certain improved designs of fulcrum tremelos including, among other things, a fulcrum tremolo with a macro-tuner…For his improved tremolo designs, Geoffrey McCabe has been awarded seven U.S. patents since October of 1990.”
The suit later states Floyd Rose guitars equipped with SpeedLoader Tremolo or SpeedLoader Fixed Bridges and marketed under the names Redmond Series and Discovery Series violate McCabe’s patents.
Additionally, the suit states McCabe met with Floyd Rose at the Schaller Electronic booth on January 19, 2001, at the NAMM show to discuss one of the patents, which is numbered 5,965,831. However, according to the lawsuit, Floyd Rose knowingly launched patent-infringing products at the 2003 NAMM show. McCabe, who is represented by attorney Dr. Trevor Coddington, said he has tried to come up with a fair settlement for the seven years since to no avail, forces the filing of a lawsuit. He sat down with the Music & Sound Retailer for a special interview during last month’s Summer NAMM show. McCabe stated: “In 2001, I had just moved from New York to California. I had just finished a really nice product prototype and went to the NAMM show looking for someone to manufacture it. I was at the Schaller booth and Floyd Rose walked up to me. I introduced myself and handed him a copy of three of my patents. He looked over the patents, front and back, handed it back to me and walked away without saying a word. I never heard from him or saw from him again. I missed the 2002 NAMM show, but returned in 2003 with a company that was interested in licensing my products. We were just floored when we saw my technology in many guitars with the Floyd Rose name on it. The technology was what I called a MacroTuner.”
In 2003, after seeing what he alleged was his technology being used in Floyd Rose Guitars, McCabe said he did not approach Rose. Instead, he sought legal counsel. By the spring, he said he contacted Rose’s attorneys. According to McCabe, “The attorneys kept putting me off. Eventually, in November 2003, they sent me a letter stating they forgot about it. At that time, I established a contingency relationship with two attorneys. One was an ex-commissioner from the patent office. The other was an examiner. They felt I had a legitimate cause.”
According to McCabe, Rose’s attorneys claimed the company’s guitars in question did not infringe upon McCabe’s patents.
After years of back-and-forth communications and no resolution, McCabe said he filed a case at the International Trade Commission (ITC). “There was a trial in August 2007, but Rose didn’t show up,” said McCabe. “There were two other respondents who ended up settling with me. Rose did not.”
According to McCabe, a division of the ITC, called the OUII, asserted all of the patents were valid and Rose’s SpeedLoader products infringed on McCabe’s patents.
However, McCabe said, due to a technical reason, the case was decided. That’s despite the fact the OUII appealed the decision three times and McCabe’s attorneys also appealed.
McCabe is seeking a jury trial and monetary compensation. McCabe admitted the money he has lost due to what he alleges is patent violations is “substantial.” McCabe is also asking Floyd Rose to cease and desist its manufacturing of the alleged patent-violating products. As an alternate to a cease-and-desist order, McCabe said he would consider a licensing deal with Floyd Rose. “I think creativity should be promoted,” McCabe said. “If Floyd Rose made a nice product with my technology and people want it, I’d be glad to work with them. I’m a pretty easy-going guy. But I do feel in my humble opinion that a company spending millions of dollars on promoting a product using my technologies should be handled in the appropriate way.”
According to McCabe, no trial date has been set. Settlement talks have commenced involving McCabe’s attorneys and the lawyers representing Floyd Rose. However, McCabe said Floyd Rose’s attorneys have turned down several settlement offers in the past and have provided no counteroffers. “It likely will go to trial,” McCabe said. “But we’re open to a solution.”
McCabe added he had to file a lawsuit because he had exhausted all other attempts to receive a proper settlement.
Floyd Rose could not be reached for comment at press time.
Davitt & Hanser said it was only named in the patent suit because it distributed Floyd Rose products from 2004 to 2009. The company added it’s no longer distributing Floyd Rose products.
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