fluke, you make neat stuff, but really you r killing sparkfun

[Bored@Work]

If I would be sparkfun guy, I would donate the multimeters to EE university workshops, and students around the globe. It would be the perfect advertisement. If the DMMs are safe.

That would mean importing them so the university can get them, which is a no-no.

And this rubbish is not safe. It is a good thing that 2000 of these are going to be bulldozed. The world doesn't need more rubbish multimeter.

Before you ask how I know they are not safe? Just look at the rubbish probes. Typical for unsafe cheap rubbish probes they have half-length sleeves over the banana plugs. I.e. the plugs are half way exposed.However the idea of the sleeves is to protect people from accidentally getting in contact with the plugs. And the meter is probably a Vichy or Victory - I never seen a safe meter from them.

[EEVblog]

I have Fluke ads that show up until at least 1988 March 1991 (for the 70 series, 80 series had yellow holster by then) they still used the gray charcoal holster with either a yellow or black meter. So I'm curious to know when Fluke switched to the yellow holster and dark meter "look", and if any meter before that used it. From memory I think there were. There were plenty of yellow no-name meters before that date, so yellow was a common colour at the time.
Of course "trade dress" issues like this one (it is NOT a trademark issue as such) aren't a "prior art" thing, but it would establish if Fluke are being bigger dicks than they already are.
Can anyone find a 1980's vintage meter with a yellow holster (or surround) and dark meter?
I foolishly through out all my old catalogs, and few of the magazine ads are in colour at that time.

[EEVblog]

Thoughts on the issue from an practicing trademark attorney:

Tough one.  I don't think that US customs would be looking for yellow meters on the basis of a trade mark as such (the TM specifically says that "Color is not claimed as a feature of the mark") but it is a bit confusing that the mark registration says that "The mark consists of the colors dark gray and yellow as applied to the goods " .  So what is the Trade Mark? I'm not sure The issue is probably a more of a trade dress / passing off one (which backed up by the description of something yellow int eh TM registration) - at a brief glance, could the inferior meters be mistaken for Fluke meters" and they would probably be right.  Fluke have a right and probably an obligation to their shareholders to protect their reputation of inferior products from being mistaken as Fluke meters and they would want to avoid any situation that an inferior yellow meter fails somehow and the next person buying a meter some time later thinks "that last meter was yellow --> Fluke meters are yellow --> I might have been a Fluke --> I'll buy something else". I also agree with one of the comments that SparkFun have probably just been caught in the tail end of a legitimate action against someone importing counterfeit meters (could even be the same meters just with Fluke markings) and Fluke is in their rights to ask customs to stop such counterfeit imports, SF just happened to buy something similar to the previous counterfeits.... It is a bit rough from SF's perspective, but Fluke probably had no say in the SF shipment specifically being blocked.  The other point is that yellow may have acquired a generic status of a warning signal for electrical equipment or signs, but relying on such a defense would be a costly court exercise and probably would need a bigger player than SF to go down this route.
So: I don't think it is a trade mark issue "as such" but a trade dress one (in Australia that would be covered by the Trade Practices Act, not the Trade Marks Act - I assume the US would have something similar). Fluke are probably just protecting their market from inferior meters being unintentionally mistaken for Fluke meters that might result in a negative reputation for the Fluke product - and they would be right to try and protect this.

[EEVblog]

- The yellow perimeter - is a recognized hazard / safety indicator - used in rescue and other warning scenarios to avoid damage, loss or injury due its colour and high-contrast.

As for yellow, Fluke were liekly not the first with using yellow in a meter, many competitors in the 80's had yellow meters. e.g. Beckman, Metrix, and a host of cheapies.

[Bored@Work]

My local electronics store has had a shopping cart overflowing with these meters for years. If the color was that important, shouldn't it have been brought up way before now?

You are arguing like people caught speeding. "But officer, see at all the others speeding here? Why don't you take care of them?".

[EEVblog]

Along with the Tektronix backdown on their similar colour scheme, perhaps Metrix got the finger wag from Fluke too. The MX57Ex meter is available in both red and yellow surround, or maybe just red now?

[Wytnucls]

Is Uni-T next? 

[saturation]

IMHO: the yellow color is associated with the whole Fluke product line, including their corporate logo.  It began in the 1990s just before Fluke's purchase by Denaher, until then it was used mostly with the now famous 80s series DMM.  That solidified the color scheme a trademark/trade dress, as well as the end of alternative none-yellow holster colors [ except for rare OEM Fluke DMM's made for NASA or other agencies; also red holsters are used in their HH Intrinsically Safe Ex line of HH tools ]. The full name as John Fluke Mfg. etc., was later simplified to just Fluke just prior to the purchase.

From archive.org of Fluke in 1996, corporate logo:



Fluke prior to 1995:



Evolution of logo and color scheme, notice the brand name on each generation of DMMs:

[saturation]

Could be.  That is an Intrinsically safe version of the 28-II, you'll see a clear label "Ex" somewhere in yellow.  AFAIK Fluke dominates that field nearly 99%, small and specialized as it is.  There are almost no DMM in that market I know other than Fluke and Metrix.  I don't think its a standard but most HH use a red holster/chassis, I think mostly from Fluke's lead.

Is Uni-T next? 

[dfmischler]

You are arguing like people caught speeding. "But officer, see at all the others speeding here? Why don't you take care of them?".

I used to help a police officer train his (very serious) dog.  He said the best answer to that question goes like this:

"Did you ever go fishing?  Did you ever catch all the fish?"

[borjam]

The chain of events as far as I can understand it is, Fluke started using this color scheme in 1988 (if the trademark filing is to believed) and filed the trademark in 2000.

I purchased my first Fluke (a 77) in 1990. It had a dark grey holster, but the more advanced (and beyond my reach) 80 series had the trademark yellow holster.

I've found an original series 80 manual here:

http://physics.ucsd.edu/neurophysics/Manuals/Fluke/87______umeng0800

It mentions the standard yellow holster. To begin with, unless I am very wrong, that holster design was unique to Fluke. Of course there were other multimeters, even el cheapo ones, with a yellow case, but not that dark grey case with a yellow holster.

[Wytnucls]

Red is just a random color chosen by Fluke for their EX meters. There is no standard as such.
The Metrix range is red, not just the EX meter.
This is the Gossen EX mOhm meter and the IP65 meter:

[AwArD_RzD]

Reply from Fluke on the facebook page https://www.facebook.com/notes/fluke-corporation/sparkfun-we-hear-you/10151978262765592

[ixfd64]

Maybe the folks working at the electronics dumps will "accidentally" lose the shipment, and the DMMs will mysteriously appear on eBay?

[dr.diesel]

Reply from Fluke on the facebook page https://www.facebook.com/notes/fluke-corporation/sparkfun-we-hear-you/10151978262765592

Better response than I figured! 

Summary:  Fluke has offered $30,000+ in genuine Fluke stuff (not specified) to SparkFun, to sell or donate.

[Bored@Work]

Reply from Fluke on the facebook page https://www.facebook.com/notes/fluke-corporation/sparkfun-we-hear-you/10151978262765592

Better response than I figured! 

Summary:  Fluke has offered $30,000+ in genuine Fluke stuff (not specified) to SparkFun, to sell or donate.

It means Fluke understood that Sparkfun was trying to create a PR disaster for Fluke, because Sparkfun playing the "oh they kill us, we are just a mom and pop shop trying to make a honest living" card.

Fluke properly calculated that it is cheaper to spend $30000 in gear than handling a potential PR disaster. But just for the record, it was Sparkfun violating the law, not Fluke.

Edit: And with Fluke's remark that Sparkfun could sell or donate the loot they did put a bit of pressure on Sparkfun. All those bargain hunters mobilized by Sparkfun to put pressure on Fluke will now put pressure on Sparkfun to get a free multimeter.

[Fsck]

Reply from Fluke on the facebook page https://www.facebook.com/notes/fluke-corporation/sparkfun-we-hear-you/10151978262765592

Better response than I figured! 

Summary:  Fluke has offered $30,000+ in genuine Fluke stuff (not specified) to SparkFun, to sell or donate.

It means Fluke understood that Sparkfun was trying to create a PR disaster for Fluke, because Sparkfun playing the "oh they kill us, we are just a mom and pop shop trying to make a honest living".

Fluke properly calculated that it is cheaper to spend $30000 in gear than handling a potential PR disaster. But just for the record, it was Sparkfun violating the law, not Fluke.

the more amusing thing is "small shop" with an order of 2000 units of PRC meters.

[pickle9000]

Wow, Fluke has some smart people working there. How much would you spend to get that kind of PR? I bet it's worth every penny.

[MartinX]

As I remember it the first yellow multimeter was Fluke 23 and I think that showed up in the early eighties, in old catalogues I have from the mid eighties there are plenty of yellow multimeters from CT Lutron, Hung Chang and the likes looking very similar to Fluke 23, there is no question were they got their inspiration from.

[Corporate666]

Reply from Fluke on the facebook page https://www.facebook.com/notes/fluke-corporation/sparkfun-we-hear-you/10151978262765592

Better response than I figured! 

Summary:  Fluke has offered $30,000+ in genuine Fluke stuff (not specified) to SparkFun, to sell or donate.

That is a master stroke   Because Sparkfun will likely look like a-holes if they end up selling it... so it pretty much coerces them to give it away - ensuring the company importing knock-off parts still suffers a financial loss, but also makes Fluke the good guys, and gets a lot of people Fluke's in their hands.

What a brilliant move.

[Corporate666]

No you don't, because the $30k in expected revenues from the sale of the meters included their reimbursement the money paid for the meters.  Sparkfun is not getting their money back for the meters - they are eating it.  So instead of $10,000 spent and $20,000 received (net profit of $20k), they have spent $10,000 and won't get that $20k, therefore the cost to them is a real $30k.

Ah, so you are talking accounting tricks.

No, just fundamental common sense.

If you spend $10k to earn $30k, your net profit is $20k. 

If you spend $10k but then earn nothing - you have lost both the $10k your spent as well as the $20k you were going to earn. 

You don't subtract the $10k from the $30k unless you get it back.  But Sparkfun has said the meters will be returned to the manufacturer or destroyed - and that the manufacturer has refused to accept them back.  So the $10k they spent on the meters is gone, as is the $20k they would have earned.

Loss = $30k

[EEVblog]

IMHO: the yellow color is associated with the whole Fluke product line, including their corporate logo.  It began in the 1990s just before Fluke's purchase by Denaher, until then it was used mostly with the now famous 80s series DMM.  That solidified the color scheme a trademark/trade dress

In the early 90's it had only been used in one meter product, the 80 series for several years.
I believe the Scopemeter was next with the yellow holster in late 1991, and the 70 series colour change happened about the same time. So it wasn't maybe 92 or 93 before Fluke could lay claim to it being a common company trade dress look'n'feel for it's products. Which of course they didn't trademark until 2000.

[deth502]

It's not like everyone was making yellow/gray meters and Fluke came along and trademarked it, stopping everyone else.  Rather, Fluke came along and were the first ones to do it and made it into a strong brand - and that is why everyone else stated to do it.

well i have a non-fluke, name brand (rebranded), fluke colored multimeter that is decades older than the fluke patent that wishes to call bullshit n that.

[EEVblog]

Could be.  That is an Intrinsically safe version of the 28-II, you'll see a clear label "Ex" somewhere in yellow.

They did a yellow version of the Ex too:

[EEVblog]

Wow, Fluke has some smart people working there.

Any PR person worth their salt in today social media frenzy world would have recommended that response.
Of course Fluke would never have responded to that if Sparkfun has approached them. It take outing companies publicly to get a response like that.
Keep in mind that Flukes response cost LESS than a full page ad in one of the big electronics magazines and associated website for a month.