I’ll go to the music store tomorrow and put ‘Made by Epiphone’ decals on all the Gibson instruments so nobody buys them.
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Gibson strikes again!
- Thread starter jd56hawk
- Start date
I'm sure that the venture capitalists of KKR will be shaken - not stirred - by this unexpected turn of events and call off all the pending and planned lawsuits...maybe even commit a collective seppuku...
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Oh god, stop crying. You guys weren’t gonna buy a Gibson anyway, stop pretending that this is the final straw. Fake outrage is lame.
You do realize how many more people buy Epiphone Thunderbirds, right?
Does Gibson have a trademark on neck dive, or is that a patent issue?
So, does this mean that the Weather Channel can no longer use the word thunderstorm?
Monster Cable sued Monstershop.com -- a store that sold masks at halloween.
It's not that much of a stretch for a lawyer who has been let off the leash.
A common shape, a V, that Dean had been using for 20 years before Gibson got it trademarked in 1996 or 97.
Gibson tried to sue PRS over the single cutaway and lost. They even admitted in court, that one would have to be a complete. idiot to mistake a PRS for a Gibson if one was at store looking to buy one and they were side by side. Same could be said in the case of the Vs.
The time to trademark the Flying V was back in the 50s, not the 90s.
Dean's argument is that Gibson's trademark should be invalidated because by 97 it never should have happened.
Going to be interesting to see how all this plays out. Personally I hope Gibson loses. Not because I dislike Gibson. But because I believe variety and competition are good for the consumer.
Granted, Gibson's attempt at re-canning worms is pretty silly, and they went about it in poor form. They'd have been a lot better off making a very, very soft statement just saying they appreciate that imitation is the highest form of flattery, but that doesn't pay the bills and a lot of people are making money off their designs.
Personally, I think it's incredibly lazy for a guitar builder to copy other's designs. If you can't come up with your own shape, at least be honest about it and negotiate a licensing fee. You're making money off their design - give them their due.
The only reason this is a thing is that Gibson failed to pursue trademark infringement in the past.
If some distillery started selling stuff in containers that were very close copies of a Crown Royal bottle, nobody would care a bit when they were told to stop. But people like their Gibson shaped guitars, and for some reason many feel that they have some sort of right to own one without paying Gibson's asking price.
Personally, I think it's incredibly lazy for a guitar builder to copy other's designs. If you can't come up with your own shape, at least be honest about it and negotiate a licensing fee. You're making money off their design - give them their due.
The only reason this is a thing is that Gibson failed to pursue trademark infringement in the past.
If some distillery started selling stuff in containers that were very close copies of a Crown Royal bottle, nobody would care a bit when they were told to stop. But people like their Gibson shaped guitars, and for some reason many feel that they have some sort of right to own one without paying Gibson's asking price.
Gaolee
Official leathers tester and crash dummy
I play Gibson bass guitars and would love to have Gibson guitars to play. They are what I think of when I think of musical instruments. But Henry J was a bozo, and these new guys seem to be doing what they can to continue the clown act. It is a pity. I really want Gibson to survive.
Over the years, it has gone after purveyors of monster-branded auto transmissions, slot machines, glue, carpet-cleaning machines and an energy drink, as well as a woman who sells "Junk Food Monster" kids' T-shirts that promote good eating habits. It sued Monster.com over the job-hunting Web site's name and Walt Disney Co. over products tied to the film "Monsters Inc." It opposed the Boston Red Sox trademark applications for seats and hot dogs named for the Green Monster, the legendary left-field wall in Fenway Park. All in all, Monster Cable says it has fought about 190 monster battles at the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office and filed around 30 monster lawsuits in federal courts.
Along the way, it has attracted its share of ire from those who say it is overreaching and trying to corner the market on a word, not a brand. "If Monster Cable prevails, the Gila monster will become just another lizard" and "the monster under your bed will have to become an ogre," wrote Michael Meadors the owner of a Web site that sells fabrics and also keeps tabs on trademark issues.
"Monster Cable's practice of suing anyone using the word 'Monster' in their name is nothing short of playground bullying," says Robert Holloway, a computer contractor in Iowa who set up a Web site called Link Removed to support the Vitaglianos.
Monster Cable says its trademark challenges are a matter of necessity. "If you don't defend your mark, and people use [it], it runs the risk of becoming generic and then you lose the mark," says Noel Lee, founder of the Brisbane, Calif., company, whose corporate title is "Head Monster." Mr. Lee says the company sells many other monster-branded products besides cables that it has to protect, including music, clothing and candy mints.
I'm just picturing all the bigwigs from Gibson, sitting down to lunch with John Hall, asking him for tips on such matters.
Well, they own Kramer which produced the worst neck-diving (but so awesome sounding IMO) basses in the history, so I guess that they do...
Regardless of whether one deems the whole lawsuit thing lame or not, I would really love to see people stop perpetuating the neck dive nonsense when it comes to Gibsons...because most of them have zero neck dive.
No worries. At the rate Gibson is going they'll crash and burn soon enough.The Volcano has been removed from the Reverend website.
Will Gibson have anything to say about the Thundergun?
Variety and competition are served by inventiveness and ingenuity; copying designs is obviously a disservice to variety, and it is an unfair practice in competition as it eliminates the cost of design and development for the copier.
People can fuss, but the Gibson are original designs. They have a right to protect them and should. Maybe we will see more new ideas in form follows function, from others for change. Now give us renewed Gibson quality with some easier to afford oil rubbed finishes
Why the Thundergun? What Gibson design is the Y
You know I could swear there was Gibson almost that ugly. What did they call that?
