Behringer

Company founder, Uli Behringer, was born 1961 in Baden, Switzerland. Behringer's father was a church organist and nuclear physicist; his mother a pianist and interpreter; his uncle a professor of composition at the Richard Strauss Conservatory in Munich; and his aunt a classical singer and pianist. At the age of four, Uli Behringer started to learn piano.[5] When he was five years old, his father built his own church organ with over 1000 pipes and integrated them into the family home.[6] Behringer helped his father build the organ. At the age of 16, he built his first synthesizer, the UB1.[7][8]

While Behringer products were manufactured in Willich, Germany, many of the individual components were imported from mainland China. In 1990, to lower production costs, Behringer shifted production from West Germany to mainland China. Initially, subcontractors were engaged to produce the equipment. By 1997 Uli Behringer had relocated to Hong Kong to better supervise manufacturing quality.

The certified EMC testing facility in Behringer City

In May 2000, Behringer acquired the rights to the entire CoolAudio technology from Intersil Corporation, a US-based semi-conductor manufacturer specializing in integrated circuits for audio applications. The acquisition included an extensive intellectual property portfolio and licensees such as Alpine and Rowe, among others.[9]

In 2002, Behringer completed its own factory, named "Behringer City," in Zhongshan, Guangdong province, China after it consolidated more than ten separate production locations into one vertically integrated plant, comprising eight buildings where electronics, speakers, guitars, and digital pianos are produced. This strategy was different than that taken by other musical instrument companies at the time who relied on third party manufacturers. Choosing to run a self-contained plant allowed Behringer a greater level of quality control. The 1,200,000-square-foot (110,000 m²) manufacturing complex in Zhongshan ships more than 2.5 million Behringer products per year to markets around the globe. The plant turns out over 50,000 mixers per month.

In February 2006, the US Federal Communications Commission (FCC) fined Behringer $1M,[12] issuing a Notice of Apparent Liability against Behringer, claiming that 50 of the company's products had not been tested for conducted and radiated emissions limits as required by US law,[13] and noting that Behringer continued to sell the products for a year after being notified.[12] Behringer's position was that they believed that since the units had passed stringent European CE standards, they would also comply with FCC verification requirements.[12] According to Behringer, it had overlooked the differences in testing standards and procedures under FCC and European requirements. The company has since implemented a complete UL certified safety and EMC testing laboratory under the UL Certified Witness Program, including in-house audits and global regulatory review systems.[14]

In June 1997, the Mackie company (now LOUD Technologies) accused Behringer of trademark and trade dress infringement, and brought suit seeking $327M in damages.[15][16] The claims were later rejected by the court. In their suit, Mackie said that Behringer had had a history of copying products by other manufacturers and selling them as their own.[17] The Mackie suit detailed an instance, in which Behringer was sued by Aphex Systems for copying the Aural Exciter Type F. In that case Aphex Systems won DM690,000.[17] The Mackie suit also mentioned similar cases filed by BBE, dbx and Drawmer.[17] On 30 November 1999, the U.S. District Court in Seattle, Washington, dismissed Mackie claims that Behringer had infringed on Mackie copyrights with its MX 8000 mixer, noting that circuit schematics are not covered by copyright laws.[18][19][20]

In 2005, Roland Corporation sued to enforce Roland's trade dress, trademark, and other intellectual property rights with regard to Behringer's recently released guitar pedals. The companies came to a confidential settlement in 2006 after Behringer changed their designs.[21]

In 2009 Peavey Electronics Corp. filed two lawsuits against various companies under the Behringer/Music Group umbrella for patent infringement, federal and common law trademark infringement, false designation of origin, trademark dilution and unfair competition.[22] In 2011 The Music Group filed a countersuit against Peavey for "false advertising, false patent marking and unfair competition."[23]