E. H. Scott vs. A. R. Fisher

TheRed1

Console Conservationist
Figured this subject was probably worthy of its own thread:
I am still struck by how E.H. Scott looking the Early Fishers were.

And no I am not saying Fisher was being a copy cat. Although at the end of the war with all the turmoil swirling with Mr. Scott I can see where a void was being forecast in the high end market.

Sorry for the thread wander. I just find this fascinating as I have E.H. Scott stuff here and have always been in awe of it.

Frannie
This is a subject that has caught my interest, as well. I recently put together a notebook with all 44 Philharmonic Radio Co. ads (Jan. 2, 1938 - Dec. 6, 1942) AND all 50 E. H. Scott Radio ads from roughly the same period (Feb. 2, 1936 - Nov. 15, 1942) to compare and contrast. These were all ads that ran in the NY Times - some of the parallels are uncanny.

Without question both companies were courting the same market segment. Obviously E. H. Scott had a head start and, as evidenced by their elaborate ads and the location of the E. H. Scott Radio Salon in the Rockefeller Center, much more cash at their disposal. Philharmonic's ads were a bit more restrained; perhaps better targeted at New York's cultured elite. To me, the Scott ads have a bit of a gee-whiz-bang, Midwestern flavor. The Scott ads were generally located in with the International News, which makes sense given their well-deserved DX reputation. Philharmonic ads were generally placed in the Music and Radio sections.

In many ways it does seem as if Fisher was emulating Scott but with a greater emphasis on fidelity, somewhat lower prices and no shortwave. The real zinger came in 1944 when Philharmonic went to trademark their name and E. H. Scott filed an opposition through the Patent Office claiming prior use in commerce. Of course, by the time the case was heard in 1946 Scott hadn't used the name Philharmonic since 1942; whereas the Philharmonic Radio Co. was using it on items they produced for the Government during the war. I don't know the details of the case but Philharmonic was granted a trademark in 1947. Scott claimed to have first used the name Philharmonic in 1937 but I can find no mention of that model until late in 1938 buy which time Philharmonic Radio Co. had run run a number of ads. One of these rainy days I'll wander downtown to the Patent Office and try to find out more details.

Your really have to wonder if some of the similarities weren't calculated, though. The script "Custom-Built" on the tuning dial of my '41 Philharmonic is almost identical to that found on some E. H. Scott tuning dials. Of course, McMurdo-Silver used the phrase "Custom Built" in their advertising, too; so obviously Scott didn't have exclusive usage rights. I'm will to believe that many of the similarities were coincidental but . . . not all of them.
 
Scott v. Scott

Fisher did license their Dynamic Noise Suppressor from Scott - but that was a different Scott: H. H. (Herman Hosmer) Scott, not E. H. (Ernest Humphreys) Scott. At the bottom of the ads for the SA-1 is this italicized legal notice: "*Licensed under Herman Hosmer Scott patents pending. . . ." What really makes it especially confusing is the entanglement between the two Scotts.

E. H. Scott Radio Labor Laboratories, Inc. also licensed the Dynamic Noise Suppressor from H. H. Scott at about the same time that Fisher did. Their ads have the same legal notices as the Fisher ads. However, that inherently confusing situation was exacerbated by E. H. Scott referring to itself simply as "Scott". The dueling Scotts eventually came to blows (in court) in the early 60s with H. H. Scott the victor. E. H. Scott (by this time known as Scott Radio Laboratories, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Annapolis Electoacoustic Corp.) was restrained from using the name "Scott" and their associated trademarks were canceled. They changed their name to Ravenswood and went out of business a few years later.

A lengthy synopsis of the case and decision can be found online by googling: "H. H. Scott, Inc. v. Annapolis Electroacoustic Corp.," if you enjoy reading that sort of thing. It does provide a fairly detailed history of the two companies and their interaction over the years.

Scott v. Philharmonic

I am currently attempting to locate the court records of the trademark opposition case filed by E. H. Scott Radio Laboratories, Inc. against the Philharmonic Radio Corp. in 1946 over the latter's attempt to trademark 'Philharmonic' as their trade name. Ironically, neither Avery Fisher nor E. H. Scott were affiliated with the companies they started at the time of this case. Both men lost control of their companies during WWII and probably shared similar unpleasant experiences with regard to capitalization.

The Quest:

Starting at the enormous US Patent Offices in Alexandria, Virginia, I was disappointed to learn that their copy of the US Patent Quarterly was kept in a storeroom where I was not permitted. The lone woman at the information desk was kind enough to abandon her post to look for me. When she eventually returned she described a scene of chaos and a large gap in the USPQ'lies starting exactly at 1946.

Off of the main room, which was fairly busy with scores of patent researchers at computer stations; I found a nice quiet alcove full of ancient editions of the Patent Office's Gazette going way back into the 1800s, beat-up wooden file cabinets and card catalogs. So I started poking around.

Occasionally one of the patent researchers would wander back from the main room and disturb my contemplative card flipping with a loud, one-sided cell phone conversation. But for the most part I was alone back there and slowly I began to figure out their system. I started finding lots of Fisher and Philharmonic trademarks that don't show up in their computerized archive. I found the trademark for the iconic Fisher "Bird with Note" and was very surprised to learn that it is still an "active" trademark. The really cool thing was that I was able to trace the ownership of trademarks forward in time which is a great way to learn the history of a company.

As I was happily digging away, a lady came up and asked me what I was doing. I figured I probably wasn't supposed to be back there rifling through their records but she was just curious and remarked that she almost never sees anybody back in their paper records. She asked me what I was looking for and then went off to see if she could find the USPQ I was originally seeking. When she returned she had a publication which she had stuck sticky notes into with a sequence of contacts I might try to locate the Scott/Philharmonic opposition case. Then she spent the better part of a half hour explaining in detail the whole trademark process and showing me which files went with each stage.

When we finally got around to introducing ourselves it turned out that she was the Director of the Records Division. I can't tell you how tickled I was that she spent so much time helping me. It really helped cushion the blow later when I was charged $9 for parking in their garage for just a little over 2 hours.

So I followed the sequence of contacts she gave me which led from the Trademark Trial & Appeal Board (TTAB) to another very helpful lady at the File Information Unit and ultimately to the National Archives which is where I am now - waiting for someone to be assigned to my inquiry. I sure hope there's some good information at the end of this convoluted trail. At least I've had the pleasure of encountering some really excellent government employees along the way.
 
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Scott vs. Fisher

Hope you have some luck at the National Archives. You're definitely right about the confusing part. What a convoluted story. Do you know of Kent King? He's the historian of E.H.Scott radios. He has a database of serial numbers for a lot of the radios by E.H. Scott. He may have run across some information about the Scott v. Philharmonic case. He has a website for Scott radio fans.

http://ehscott.ning.com/

If you join the group, you might be able to get some additional information. He has three pages of pictures of his collection on the site. I sold him one of the radios on the third page, the Allwave 12 Deluxe in the Westerly case. I still regret selling that radio.
 
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