Gibson lawsuit against Dean

  • Thread starter Thread starter crwnedblasphemy
  • Start date Start date
What I don't understand is acoustic guitars, violins, violas, cellos, pianos, horns, etc all can look similar but electric guitars cannot? That's just weird copyright stuff to me.
 
I get the idea of needing to enforce your intellectual property but the dean stuff shares no resemblance to the Gibson stuff, nor are customers cross shopping the two. As much as I like Gibsons, I’d never buy a new one purely out of spite given how the company acts.
 
Can't wait for Gibson fanboys rushing to this thread defending this shit. :D
 
As a result, the jury said Gibson had suffered no actual harm and awarded the company just $4,000 in "counterfeiting statutory damages per counterfeit trademark per type of goods sold, [or] offered for sale."
Click to expand...
 
People often ask why doesn't Gibson make new non traditional guitars . When you are one of the most copied manufacturers on the planet even 70 years later you tend to be doing something right.

Those guitar designs are more sought after today than they were many decades ago , a Gibson is probably on more peoples bucket list than any other manufacturer in existence .
 
It just sucks that Gibson is sitting on these classic designs and doing next to fuckall with them.

The Explorers offered by Gibson currently are the '58-style (available only in a natural clear), the '70s style (exact same guitar but with neck binding and available in black and white), the Explorer Custom (only in black, for $5300) and the historic reissue of the '58 (in one color but two pickguard options, priced at $10k).

Dean, on the other hand, is offering them with a plethora of options and at a better price. An Explorer like this does not come close to existing in Gibson's lineup:
lx8xhwzkb0pvjo0qd4n2.jpg
 
I'm a Gibson fanboi and I personally wish they wouldn't have done this. A Dean is not a Gibson and a Gibson is not a Dean. Nobody was out there getting a Dean Explorer to look like Hetfield.
 
I’m slightly confused about the article. So by awarding Gibson $4000 that means they won they case correct? So doesn’t that mean Dean would have to stop using those shapes? Why is the CEO of Dean happy?
 
messenger said:
I’m slightly confused about the article. So by awarding Gibson $4000 that means they won they case correct? So doesn’t that mean Dean would have to stop using those shapes? Why is the CEO of Dean happy?
Click to expand...
From the guitar.com article:

"The jury found that Dean infringed on Gibson’s body shape trademarks for the Flying V, Explorer and SG, as well as separate trademarks for the Dove Wing headstock and the Hummingbird acoustic guitar. Dean was not found to have infringed on Gibson’s standalone trademark for the Flying V.

The jury also found that Dean marketed counterfeits of the Flying V, Explorer and SG body shapes, and the Gibson Hummingbird. It is not guilty of marketing a counterfeit of the Dove Wing headstock shape."

The $4000 damages was for the "counterfeits".

My guess is Dean will tweak the body shapes just as much as needed to be legal, update a few CNC programs and be back up and running relatively quickly.
 
Gibson better go after ESP and Tokai next + other brands that basically make dead on Les Paul and SG copies. Soon every company has to tweak their Gibby inspired shapes.
 
Kyrpajyra said:
Gibson better go after ESP and Tokai next + other brands that basically make dead on Les Paul and SG copies. Soon every company has to tweak their Gibby inspired shapes.
Click to expand...
I could be wrong but If i recall, they cant go after Japan and/or China based companies due to different copywrite/patent laws. Hence why Tokia, Edwards and other Japanese companies can continue making an exact looking Gibson LP copy... but that's also why you cant find them in any stores in North America.

Not sure what they can do as far as ESP since they're USA based. Maybe its enough of a design difference in the Eclipse Series that they cant justify the law suit.
 
Bash_Man said:
I could be wrong but If i recall, they cant go after Japan and/or China based companies due to different copywrite/patent laws. Hence why Tokia, Edwards and other Japanese companies can continue making an exact looking Gibson LP copy... but that's also why you cant find them in any stores in North America.

Not sure what they can do as far as ESP since they're USA based. Maybe its enough of a design difference in the Eclipse Series that they cant justify the law suit.
Click to expand...
Yup. That’s why ESP changed the Eclipse
 
I may have interpreted the message incorrectly, but I recall a Philip McKnight video where he said it is all about the headstock design And not the body. Maybe Gibson will continue to challenge this
 
Gibson really showed Dean didn't they?!
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top