May 21, 2025

Last fall I got a call from Larry Fishman, president of Fishman Transducers. His company was preparing their trademark application for the product name “Acousticomp” when they saw JangleBox had already applied and been granted a preliminary trademark. Fishman Transducers had completed an initial production run of compressor pedals using that name, ready to ship, and their marketing campaign was in place. So Larry had a problem. He asked if he and I could reach an accommodation that would save him money, time and aggravation.

Aside from the fact that I greatly admire (and own) Fishman products, I really appreciated Larry’s approach and demeanor. We had a very congenial chat for maybe 15 minutes and reached a simple agreement quickly. And let’s be real: with his company’s resources, Larry could have made things difficult for JangleBox. Instead, he promised to drop the Acousticomp name after he sold off his first run (guitar pedals are a small part of their product line). I promised to forgo any legal action. We wished each other well.

Contrast that to the phone call I received Monday from Chris Martin IV, executive chairman of C. F. Martin & Co. Our conversation began oddly. Without introducing himself, he asked who was the person in charge of intellectual property compliance. I told him I’m in charge of everything at JangleBox. He seemed to already be seething when he said we had violated Martin’s trademark by showing a portion of a Martin headstock (with partial logo) in an ad. 

I asked “What ad?” He then shouted “Vintage Guitar! The ad in Vintage Guitar!” When I figured out what he was angry about, I countered “I see Martin guitars on record covers, CDs and in ads all the time. Isn’t this pretty much the same thing?” That remark, unfortunately, was the wrong thing to say and set him off on a loud harangue, talking over me and threatening legal action several times. He even pulled the “Do you know who you’re talking to?” indignation, which I thought was strange since he hadn’t yet told me who he was. I asked him if he wanted to have a conversation or just yell at me? He kept yelling.

As to the substance of his complaint, Martin’s point was valid; I made a mistake. I thought I could simply use a picture of my Martin D-42 positioned next to an Acousticomp®, and didn’t consider the trademark ramifications. Among his grievances was that I didn’t even ask to use a picture of their headstock. True, but would that have made any difference? I doubt it. Anyway, our Vintage Guitar ad has been redesigned and the D-42 photo is gone.

This issue could have been handled so much more professionally. Chris Martin, former CEO of C. F. Martin & Co., has people to do this for him without all the sturm und drang. I connected with their in-house attorney the next day to resolve the matter and he was both more reasonable and better suited temperamentally to handle tasks like this. If Martin didn’t want to email me a basic cease and desist order, here’s how that phone call could have gone:

“Hello. Chris Martin from Martin Guitars here. I’m calling to inform you that you violated our trademark protections in your June Vintage Guitar ad. I’m asking (insisting; demanding) that you remove the photo of the Martin headstock from this and any other of your other ads immediately.”

It would have been done and done.

I love my Martin guitars and applaud Chris Martin’s turning the company around when it foundered in the 80s. But Jesus, what a needlessly unpleasant encounter.

Martin guitar headstocks and logos are registered trademarks of C. F. Martin & Co.®.  JangleBox® and Acousticomp® are registered trademarks of JangleBox, LLC. JangleBox is not affiliated with, nor endorsed by, C. F. Martin & Co.