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by mrob 249 days ago
Companies like Behringer are necessary for patents to be ethically justified. The deal with patents is a temporary monopoly in exchange for greater competition once the monopoly expires. Cheap re-implementations of expired patents is the patent system working as intended.
2 comments
7oi 249 days ago
Agreed. I have no gripe with companies reviving extinct hardware, such as multiple companies have with the TB-303 (Behringer included). Patents should even have a shorter lifespan IMO (although I admit I don’t know how long they last now). Sitting comfortably on a patent just encourages stagnation.
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Jolter 249 days ago
The product designs Behringer are often accused of plagiarizing are generally not patented.
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mrob 249 days ago
If it was never patented then whoever produced it clearly didn't care about preventing competition. And Behringer products all have a Behringer logo clearly printed on them, so there is no attempt to deceive anybody.
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otherme123 249 days ago
I like Behringer products, but the story of the Centaur clone is a joke. By all means they attempt to deceive: no "Behringer" clearly visible, the centaur drawing is almost a copy, the colour, the knobs and switch distribution...

And half their pedals look exactly like Boss gear.

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mrob 249 days ago
The version without a prominent Behringer logo is no longer sold (possibly there was legal action; I don't know the details). I agree that the old version was potentially misleading. The current version has a prominent Behringer logo. Knob and switch distribution is a functional part of the user interface.
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otherme123 249 days ago
AFAIK, Behringer received some threats, and they redesigned the case. But if you order the new redesign "Centara" they will mix your order somehow and send you the first almost exact copy they made.

The functional distribution of knobs are the one that use Boss pedals and others: common case size, knobs at top, switch under a big cover. The wide format with a naked switch offset that the Centaurs have (both original Klon and Behringer clone) is functionally pointless.

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Jolter 249 days ago
A lot of products have new ideas to them which are not patentable.
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