Published
Wed, Feb 6, 2019, 22:00
- The company has taken steps to protect the appearance and design of its classic machines in Germany, ostensibly in response to the Behringer RD-808.
Roland has taken steps to protect the design of its classic TB-303 and TR-808 machines.
Sleuths over at the sequencer.de forum discovered the filings, which seek to trademark the "signature layout of the keyboard and knobs of the 303 and the sequence of colored buttons on the 808," Create Digital Music reports. Forum posters speculate the moves are a response to Behringer's RD-808, which copied the TR-808's colour scheme and button layout. (The version showed at this year's NAMM reversed the colours.) The German filing for the 303 is here and the filing for the 808 is here.
Last year, Roland filed applications to trademark the TR-808 and TR-909 drum machines with the United States Patent and Trademark Office.
Check out our profile on Roland from 2015.
