Toggle sidebar

Fender and the "S-Shaped" guitar body

Slowpoke Catracho

Slowpoke Catracho

All-American
Jun 29, 2023
2,348
5,023
187
Where the land meets the sky
What are your thoughts? I'm OK with it, but then again I'm not building a guitar. I can see where E-bay sellers and small sellers may be put out by it, but my thought is come up with a different design.

"Fender has laid down the gauntlet in its protection of the Stratocaster body shape, sending a cease and desist to a US firm, ordering it to stop production of its S-style electric guitars."


www.guitarworld.com

“This case could set a precedent, impacting countless other builders and musicians”: Fender escalates legal campaign against S-style guitars, issues first cease and desist to US builder

Family-run LsL Instruments is seeking to raise funds for its legal battle against Fender, which has instructed the firm to stop making its S-style guitars
www.guitarworld.com www.guitarworld.com
 
  • Like
Reactions: 92tide
Slowpoke Catracho said:
What are your thoughts? I'm OK with it, but then again I'm not building a guitar. I can see where E-bay sellers and small sellers may be put out by it, but my thought is come up with a different design.

"Fender has laid down the gauntlet in its protection of the Stratocaster body shape, sending a cease and desist to a US firm, ordering it to stop production of its S-style electric guitars."


www.guitarworld.com

“This case could set a precedent, impacting countless other builders and musicians”: Fender escalates legal campaign against S-style guitars, issues first cease and desist to US builder

Family-run LsL Instruments is seeking to raise funds for its legal battle against Fender, which has instructed the firm to stop making its S-style guitars
www.guitarworld.com www.guitarworld.com
Click to expand...
i pretty much agree. come up with your own design
 
  • Like
Reactions: Slowpoke Catracho
LsL is trying to couch this as a big bad multi-national corporation picking on a mom-and-pop family business that's just trying to make a dime to put food on the table and send kids to school. But that's not the issue.

Apparently, Fender didn't trademark the design of the Stratocaster. At least not in the US, and maybe not anywhere. If Fender had a US trademark, they'd be asserting their associated rights under well-established American law, and LsL wouldn't have a leg to stand on.

Now a European court says the Stratocaster design is a work of art and therefore trademarked in the EU, and Fender is trying to expand that ruling into the US.

So the issue is whether US trademark law applies to products that aren't trademarked in the US when a foreign court rules that trademark law does apply in that court's jurisdiction.

It's an interesting legal question. Logically, I'd think not.

Maybe the European court can bar LsL from selling Stratocaster copycats in the EU. But we don't generally allow foreign courts to dictate domestic American business practices. So I don't see where an EU court has jurisdiction over the conduct of American businesses in the US.

I think LsL is trying to sell the wrong argument.

Rather than whining, “The Man’s keepin’ me down,” ask, “We gonna let some pointy-headed Europeans tell American business what they can and can’t do?!?!?”

Still, the law doesn't always follow logic, and I really don't know. This is why Intellectual Property lawyers are in such high demand.
 
Last edited:
  • Like
Reactions: Slowpoke Catracho and dtgreg
4Q Basket Case said:
LsL is trying to couch this as a big bad multi-national corporation picking on a mom-and-pop family business that's just trying to make a dime to put food on the table and send kids to school. But that's not the issue.

Apparently, Fender didn't trademark the design of the Stratocaster. At least not in the US, and maybe not anywhere. If Fender had a US trademark, they'd be asserting their associated rights under well-established American law, and LsL wouldn't have a leg to stand on.

Now a European court says the Stratocaster design is a work of art and therefore trademarked in the EU, and Fender is trying to expand that ruling into the US.

So the issue is whether US trademark law applies to products that aren't trademarked in the US when a foreign court rules that trademark law does apply in that court's jurisdiction.

It's an interesting legal question. Logically, I'd think not.

Maybe the European court can force LsL not to sell Stratocaster copycats in the EU. But we don't generally allow foreign courts to dictate domestic American business practices, so I don't see where an EU court has jurisdiction over the conduct of business in the US.

Still, the law doesn't always follow logic, and I really don't know. This is why Intellectual Property lawyers are in such high demand.
Click to expand...
Thanks for this!
 
I don’t like the lawsuit at all. While I understand protecting IP, Fender let S and T type guitars get copied for over 70 years while only protecting the headstock design. At this point, S and T bodies are generic and ubiquitous. Fender also builds a dreadnaught acoustic pioneered by Martin and copies look and sounds of Marshall and Vox with their digital amps, so this comes across as hypocritical. By far my favorite guitar I own is a ‘72 Telecaster I’ve had for over 40 years and I love my ‘89 American Standard Strat (which has better build quality by far than any mass production American Fender built today and surpasses several custom shop guitars I’ve played). It’s hard for someone like Fender to compete with $100 Chinese knockoffs, but they have pretty decent entry level guitars with their Squier series. But where Fender really struggle I think is in the $600+ range, because their quality control in their American series can’t even match what PRS does with their imported SE Silver Sky guitars (much less the S2 and CE versions). Fender just needs to do better.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Slowpoke Catracho
BamaSC said:
I don’t like the lawsuit at all. While I understand protecting IP, Fender let S and T type guitars get copied for over 70 years while only protecting the headstock design. At this point, S and T bodies are generic and ubiquitous. Fender also builds a dreadnaught acoustic pioneered by Martin and copies look and sounds of Marshall and Vox with their digital amps, so this comes across as hypocritical. By far my favorite guitar I own is a ‘72 Telecaster I’ve had for over 40 years and I love my ‘89 American Standard Strat (which has better build quality by far than any mass production American Fender built today and surpasses several custom shop guitars I’ve played). It’s hard for someone like Fender to compete with $100 Chinese knockoffs, but they have pretty decent entry level guitars with their Squier series. But where Fender really struggle I think is in the $600+ range, because their quality control in their American series can’t even match what PRS does with their imported SE Silver Sky guitars (much less the S2 and CE versions). Fender just needs to do better.
Click to expand...
I love the PRS instruments!

Speaking of the "Silver Sky":
"As Fender’s campaign against Stratocaster-style copyists gathers momentum, PRS Guitars has confirmed it received a cease-and-desist letter from the iconic guitar maker." - Article

www.guitarplayer.com

“PRS disagrees with Fender’s assessment.” Fender’s war on Strat copyists just got bigger

PRS confirms it received a cease-and-desist letter over the Silver Sky — John Mayer’s massively successful signature model. But does this latest target meet Fender’s copyist criteria?
www.guitarplayer.com www.guitarplayer.com
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.

New Posts

Advertisement

Trending content

Advertisement

Latest threads

Top Bottom
Back