Drumometer
A drumometer is an electronic device invented by Boo McAfee and Craig A. Kestner (aka Craig Alan) that is used to count drum strokes.
Drumometer is patented technology protected by US Patent #6,545,207.
The Drumometer is accepted by Guinness World Records and the WFD World's Fastest Drummer Extreme Sport Drumming organization as the official device used to determine the World's Fastest Drummer. WFD World's Fastest Drummer Extreme Sport Drumming describes the sporting event that utilizes the Drumometer.
McAfee has filed patent infringement lawsuits in Chicago against Guitar Center, Ahead Products, Inc. and Cherub Technology Inc., who sell a similar drum stroke counting device, and Yamaha Corporation of America, who has incorporated a drum stroke counting feature in its popular line of DTX electronic drum kits.
In response to an ongoing controversy in the music world over who was, in fact, the world’s fastest drummer, Boo McAfee teamed up with electrical engineer and drummer, Craig Alan Kestner, and developed the DrumometerTM to accurately count drum strokes on a drum pad. McAfee and Kestner were awarded U.S. Patent No. 6,545,207 on their invention, and began promoting “World’s Fastest Drummer®” (“WFD”) competitions with the DrumometerTM. Craig left Drumometer in 2007 to continue a career in engineering but still owns the first Drumometer prototype affectionately known as Frankenstein.
“Extreme Sport Drumming” competitions are now regularly held worldwide, and have been featured on CNN, MTV, VH1, PBS, FOX and ESPN. Boo McAfee and Extreme Sport Drumming were recently the subject of the film Fast Company, which opened to rave reviews at the Milwaukee Film Festival on September 27, 2015.
The popularity of Extreme Sport Drumming, however, has led to many imitators of the patented DrumometerTM. After trying for years to license, or stop. the sales of copycat drum stroke counting devices, McAfee has now begun filing patent infringement lawsuits with the help of patent attorney Anthony Dowell of Chicago.
“I contacted all of the companies selling imitation drum stroke counting pads,” McAfee said. “Unfortunately, none of them would respect my patent rights and pay a reasonable license fee. Guitar Center told me they wouldn’t even talk to me unless I filed ‘formal proceedings.’ So that’s what we did.”
“Boo’s experience is common these days,” patent attorney Anthony Dowell explained. “In today’s patent climate, companies have no respect for inventors or patent rights. Most will ignore an inventor until a patent infringement lawsuit is filed. That usually gets their attention.” Dowell has filed three patent infringement lawsuits for McAfee in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, the first against Guitar Center and Yamaha on October 27, 2015 (15-cv-9555) and two more against Ahead Products, Inc. (15-cv-10395) and Cherub Technology Inc. (15-cv-10403) on November 18, 2015.
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