UP MTH

in article snipped-for-privacy@a-err.com, Charles Kimbrough at snipped-for-privacy@a-err.com wrote on 11/8/06 1:58 PM:

I'm not a big fan on MTH and their intellectual property claims surrounding DCC or their sledgehammer approach to the Lionel suit.

But, MTH is to be commended and congratulated for keeping the suit with Union Pacific (and it's fallen flag subsidiaries) going until a reasonable conclusion was reached. It was likely expensive and time consuming for them, but they persevered where others, like Athearn, just caved in due to the cost and potential liability if they lost.

Thanks, MTH.

After over 4 years and the deaths of countless electrons spent in the discussion of this topic...VICTORY! Bwahahahahahaha! "Ding dong the witch is dead..."

Um, whazzat?

I...I owe it all to...Mike Wolf???

Aw, dammit!

Paul A. Cutler III

Charles Kimbrough wrote in news:4552530D.28211D63@a- err.com:

If you pardon my French, I'll be dipped in shit! It seems like a surprisingly simple and yet very sensible solution.

One cannot help but wonder what happened ?

Did all the high priced lawyers suddenly get food poisoning at the same time, so practical people applying common sense had to sit down and negotiate directly with each other instead of communicating through a couple of layers of lawyers ? ;-)

Oh well - no matter what happened - well done to both UP and MTH!

Smile, Stein

Stein R spake thus:

I doubt if the lawyers deserve that much blame (or credit): after all, they're just being sharks on behalf of their clients. If their clients decide they want to be reasonable, the lawyers can figure out how to do that, too.

Holy jumping catfish! Decency and common sense actually won out! I guess there's hope for the world after all.

Thanks MTH, for persevering in the cause of justice. And thanks UP, for finally coming to a reasonable solution.

David Nebenzahl wrote in news:4552696e$0$5787$ snipped-for-privacy@news.adtechcomputers.com:

Yes, obviously. My comment was meant as a joke. _Mostly_. There is a slightly uncomfortable (for lawyers) element of truth to the observation that hired lawyers often bill by the hour and corporate/government lawyers have a need to justify their continued employment, and thus most kinds of lawyers usually have few incentives to find quick, simple and low cost solutions.

But be that as it may. It seems like this agreement between UP and MTH was a good thing for everybody involved in model railroading.

Grin, Stein

So, as I understand it, UP basically just stopped charging fees, which pretty much was the major part of the complaint by the Hobby Manufacturers (although at the start of the licensing program there was all kinds of rumors, including UP having the right to approve all models and to destroy molds and such). I wonder if Athearn and others will now discountinue their 'UP roadname' surcharge, which was the modeler's major complaint with regard this licensing program.

Yes, it's all about the money....

What really happened, "new CEO of UP". What we didn't see under the table was that this might have been a nail in the "whatever happen to the old CEO!

kinds of lawyers usually have few incentives to find quick, simple and low cost solutions.<

Reason that estate settlements (at least back east) could go on for

roadname' surcharge< You are kidding right? Athearn has already paid and I doubt UP is offering a refund.

Semi-serious... IIRC, the two biggest modeler concerns with this UP licensing fee program was

a.) UP could prevent certain models from sporting it's roadname (or that of roads it had absorbed over the years) - legal veto power, in effect. Which I suppose the new licensing program still gives UP this power.

b.) Model Manufacturers would use this program to jack up the prices (from a few cents to 5 bucks) on UP branded models (the surcharge). Which of course many did, some surcharges seeming to be well beyond what modelers were calcuating at the time should have been the real percentage.

I could easily see UP quietly ending the 'fee' requirement for existing licensees (otherwise licensees could do anything from quitting their current program and rejoining under the new license program, to making a big stink and bringing out the lawyers) - however, I am not as certain that the savings would then be passed on to the customers, as the mfrs didn't seem to be too concerned with customer griping and carping when instituting the surcharges.

in article snipped-for-privacy@h54g2000cwb.googlegroups.com, Sir Ray at snipped-for-privacy@hotmail.com wrote on 11/9/06 1:41 PM:

The amount of surcharge seemed to vary depending upon the actual cost of the product. It seems that Athearn RTR locos were $70 for non-UP and $75 for UP licensed. It also seemed that their genesis prices were identical (110 for F7A, no sound or DCC) for all models. At least, that's what is listed today in their online catalog and what I remember from before. The surcharge probably varied with overall profitability.

To hell with MTH and all its' lawsuits and so forth. I would never buy anything from them.

Sorry, I am old and come from a time when model and "electric" trains were (and still are ) fun and were enjoyed and shared by all.

Robert B

Exactly. And let's not forget the ungentlemanly way MTH's first HO ads in MR bashed the competition. So why should anyone think they negotiated this "New Deal" strictly for the general good of the hobby?

Personally, I'm reserving my kudos or celebration until after any ulterior motives that may be behind this deal come to light.

Stevert

Where were MR and RMC in all of this?

These two leading hobby magazines should have been leading the fight against UP instead, silence, deathly silence from both of them.

-- Cheers

Roger T.

Home of the Great Eastern Railway

```````` I agree, Roger, not to mention MRIA and the NMRA.

"Paul - The CB&Q Guy" (Modeling 1960's In HO.)

Meanwhile, Bob Hundeman was raising a ruckus about it in every other editorial in at least N Scale Magazine.

"Joe Ellis"

That's good to know. MR, RMC, NMRA and MRIA were wimps and should have been leading the fight.

-- Cheers

Roger T.

Home of the Great Eastern Railway

Let's see if they now step in and claim the "victory", such as it is (the "Fallen Flag" issue still seems unsettled in that they're claiming rights to what they - or their predecessors - long ago abandoneD.

Meanwhile, guerillas, don't throw down your arms.