According to the latest information, the USPTO has rejected the application for the trademark Behringer Oberheim.
In addition to many announcements, Behringer is also constantly in the media due to his daring trademark inquiries. The application on the names “Oberheim” and “Behringer Oberheim” is one of the most recent and most discussed ones. As we know, the MusicTribe owns the trademarks for the Oberheim brand names, which Gibson actually returned to Tom Oberheim.
At the same time, a news went through the media that MusicTribe had registered the name “Behringer Oberheim” as a trademark. Today the USPTO (The US patent & trademark office) announced its decision.
USPTO Rejects Behringer Oberheim
In August 2020, Behringer had registered the name “Behringer Oberheim” as a trademark in the US. Possibly to guarantee the release of the UB-Xa even in the worst case where the trademark offices rejected the “Oberheim” brand. 7 months after filing this application, the USPTO announced its decision today. In this, the USPTO rejects the application for the brand “Behringer Oberheim”.
According to the USPTO documents, dated 4 March, the trademark was rejected for including matters “that may falsely suggest a connection with Tom Oberheim“. This shows us that not everything is possible.
What about the name Oberheim? As we know, the MusicTribe owns the Oberheim trademark. They are already using the name as a brand on the website.
A Complicated Matter
It’s a relatively complicated matter and can be different in every country. In Germany, Behringer won a lawsuit against Gibson in 2019, Amazona.de reported about the topic. According to the American legal information website Justia.com, Tom Oberheim currently owns the trademark Oberheim. As of now, MusicTribe and Oberheim have the trademark. Who is the rightful owner now?
OB-Xa
The same site says that Tom also has the trademark for the name OB-Xa. As we know from an older article, however, Behringer has renamed its UB-Xa to OB-Xa. So what’s legal or illegal now?
Does the whole thing sound confusing to you? Yes, it is and nobody knows exactly who has what. The whole thing is true Synthesizer drama in many acts. Who ultimately wins remains open.
More information here: USPTO
“…Oberheim brand names, which Gibson actually returned to Tom Oberheim.”
Nope. They pretended so, but because Gibson did not actually use the name for a product too many years, they lost the right for it already. That’s why MT could acclaim it.
Fuck Uli. No, really – the guy is a jackass, and people doing business with this jackass carry his stink.
It took me years to absolve myself of buying some now-long-broken crap before I knew better than to support that guy.
There is no rathole this company will not ransack and pollute in Uli’s clear efforts to avenge himself on the creative people in the past and present musical-equipment trade.
Just say no to this bellywalker.
I don’t know why they just didn’t register “Behringer Uberheim”