Nate Bargmann wrote: > Looking over Spectral's site, I'm not sure what the current holder > could sue over except, perhaps, trademark infringement by using the > Isopole name. My limited understanding of trademark law is that a > rights holder must defend the trademark or lose it. I do recall that > AEA (or somebody) held a patent on the Isopole when I bought mine in > 1985 which should have expired some time ago.
Unauthorized use of the trademark name is exactly what they might have sued for if it were possible. The original patent, expired or not, was a U.S. patent not an international patent so no action could have been taken until and unless Spectral established themselves in the U.S. > It's unfortunate that the follow on rights holder never did produce the > AEA Isopole. Had I known the future when AEA was disolved, I would > have laid my hands on a couple. At the time there was no measurable interest in a single band omni antenna. The plethora of dual band and multiband radios available at that time sparked interest in only dual band or multiband antennas so Isopole sales dropped significantly. I bought out much of AEA's stock on Isopoles back at the turn of the century and had great difficulty finding new homes for them all. AEA still had dozens of the UHF Isopoles at that time and couldn't hardly give them away then. Don't forget about MFJ's copy of the Isoloop- it too is an unmistakable copy of an AEA product but there was no protection in place at that time such as an international patent. 73, Gary
