Oh Look Dear, Fender's being stupid again!

[rolandson]

Couldn't decide whether this belonged in @VictorB 's "All Things Funny" thread ... and ultimately decided that highjacking his thread is simply rude. Though I wouldn't be surprised if the bosses figured that this indeed belongs in Victor's thread.

I am of course referring to...
Fender's latest endeavor to embarrass themselves ala Gibson's "Play Authentic" debacle.

Fender’s Cease-and-Desist Campaign Over Stratocaster-Style Guitars Raises New IP Questions for Guitar Makers | Law Commentary

Fender Musical Instruments Corp. has begun sending cease-and-desist letters to guitar manufacturers that make and sell instruments resembling the company’s Stratocaster, escalating a long-running dispute over one of the most recognizable electric guitar designs in popular music.The move follows...

www.lawcommentary.com

For those who haven't a clue about what the eff I'm yapping about ... having just stumbled upon this latest comedic development, permit me to explain.

Fender has empowered the greatest legal minds of the 2026 law school graduating class to pick up a loaded pistol, take careful aim at their foot and squeeze the trigger.

That is to say, after a small-ish maker in China failed to show up in a German court to answer a claim involving fender's interpretation of the term "copyright" as it is applied in Germany, fender has become emboldened and begun sending threatening letters to boutique makers large snd small across the US...seeking to assert total and complete control over the S-type body shape...

Despite having had their asses handed to them by a US court in 2009 over this precise issue.

This all involves some not so subtle distinctions between things like trademark versus copyright and EU versus US law.

It's going to be entertaining as either a stand-up comedy routine (traditional US legal standards of practice) or as a wise murderbot once said...
"one more weird anomaly in this unending cycle of 'what the fuck' " (current US legal standards of practice)

 

[3bolt79]

This whole thing is laughable. They really are shooting themselves in the foot. Take for example “Chibson” guitars. Many of them come with the same hardware that Gibson’s own Epiphone guitars come with, and are likely made in the same factory. Just take the stop tailpiece off of one and flip it over to see. Nobody is going to confuse a Chibson or an Epi for a real Gibson unless they are in 2nd grade.

I think that this may be a low cost way to extort some money from other manufacturers via licensing agreements or settlements. It is low hanging fruit, and cease and desist letters are cheap.

 

[VictorB]