Official Guide Companion: ManhattanGMAT vs GMATFix

[Patrick_GMATFix]

I registered on Beat the GMAT to ask for your opinion. I'm the owner of GMATFix.

This month Manhattan GMAT is coming out with a product called "The Official Guide Companion 12th Edition". This 250 page book is meant to offer detailed solutions to the quant questions in the OG12.

The problem is that GMATFix has had for the past few weeks, a product called "The Official Guide Companion 12th Edition". It is a 550 page book that serves the same goal as ManhattanGMAT's. What gives?

Well as you will know if you're a long time user of beat the GMAT (or if you do a Google search for "Official Guide Companion"), GMATFix has had this product on the market since late 2008 (then it was The OG Companion 11th Edition).

According to US Trademark law, the first agent to use a mark (such as product name) in a commercial venture owns the trademark. I am especially peeved because in early 2009, I introduced my book (The OG Companion 11th) to an executive of Manhattan GMAT. How do you guys suggest I go about protecting my right?

I would also like to invite anyone to examine both books and publish a side by side comparison of their qualities.

-Patrick

[kobel51]

Hey Patrick,

I used your OG Companion when it first came out. Several people here even posted reviews. Not sure what you can do though. Maybe you can contact MGMAT. they may not have been aware that they would be using the name of a product that is already out there.

[pharmxanthan]

If the name is exactly the same, then Patrick is the legal "owner" of the trademark. If Patrick has not filed for the trademark, he probably should do so to avoid such conflicts in future. Even if MG files for the trademark before Patrick, law will side with Patrick as his "product" has been in "market" much before that of MG's.

I own Patrick's 12ed OG Companion. I will post its review soon. One of the issues with this product is that I can only use a particular computer to access the book. We can not download the book and read it when away from that computer. Also, we get only 4 months (I think...) of access to the online version. The print version of the product is almost twice as costly.

The electronic book should be available for download so that one can read while commuting to work in a subway or in other such scenarios.

[BlueDragon2010]

I also own the Official Guide Companion 12th from gmatfix. I found it very useful.

I was at a book store yesterday and saw the mgmat Official Guide Companion. It's less than half the size of gmatfix book (about 250 vs 550 pages). The volume difference is due to gmatfix in depth analysis of questions; the bigger book offers multiple solving strategies to many questions, not just 1 solution. The book also offers guessing strategies (called 30 second hacks) to many PS questions. The book's big size probably contributes to its higher cost.

Another thing to consider is that the mgmat book was not written by 1 expert but by several ManhattanGMAT instructors (according to mgmat website), whereas the gmatfix book was written by 1, so the same solving strategies and approaches thread through the entire book.

Anyway, pharmxanthan I'm not sure why you can't use it from a different computer. You should definitely contact support for help. When I purchased the hard-copy version, I got the electronic version at no additional cost. I can log into my account from any computer and use the electronic version. For instance because the book is so big, I don't like to carry it to work, so I leave it at home and from the office I just log into my account at lunch break.

I would be very interested in a side by side comparison of the two books. Anyone?