[jaeysin]

But they didn't violate their trademark, there is no use of the name Fluke or their trademark.

"A trademark is a brand name. A trademark or service mark includes any word, name, symbol, device, or any combination, used or intended to be used to identify and distinguish the goods/services of one seller or provider from those of others, and to indicate the source of the goods/services. " http://www.uspto.gov/trademarks/basics/

You could make an argument that the products themselves are look-alikes, or pursue them if they created a similar trademark to cause confusion, but it doesnt seem to me that they obviously acted to violate a trademark.

[bunderbunder]

This would appear to be the specific trademark they violated: http://tmsearch.uspto.gov/bin/showfield?f=doc&state=4809:7pu...

This is coming from the USPTO's website. If it's invalid because it only mentions Fluke's trade dress and not its name or logo, that'll probably be news to the folks running the USPTO. You might want to mention it to them.

[rhizome]

which is called "trade dress" and is much more difficult for fluke to prevail on.

[gonzo]

though they did.

[rasz_pl]

No they didnt. Nobody questioned their bogus trademark yet.

Sparkfun isnt exactly in ideal position to fight Fluke, after all they very well might make a ton of money selling Fluke gear in the future. No point getting hostile over ~$20K.

Fluke received a trademark for a item design that WAS ALREADY IN USE for at least 20 years. Trademark in the center of all this is ~"dark case, yellow face". They didnt even come up with the design first. Look at the second one from the top: http://www.stevenjohnson.com/apparatusdesignco/index.html

Fluke multimeters started white/gray/beige, then went black, then yellow. Yellow on black is new to fluke.

Basically they STOLE generic, already used design and trademarked it same way one click and round corners received US Patents.

[darklajid]

Nitpicking: I think you have the colors wrong - it's "yellow case, dark face" as far as I understand. Not that it makes a huge difference..

[rasz_pl]

Yep, realized it just now :D still trademark was granted in 2003, and if you do a google seatch with date limit set to 2002 you will find plenty of multimeters with that look, Fluke was granted retroactive trademark for a look that was generic at the time. Its like Ford receiving 4 door car trademark :/