Guitar Journal: Trump Guitars issued Gibson Cease & Desist
Gibson sends Cease & Desist to Get Trump Guitars
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Guitar Journal: Gibson Send Cease & Desist to Trump Guitars · Source: Get Trump Guitars
The Gibson legal team has been busy this last week. They have sent cease and desist orders to Donald Trump Guitars and seized 3000 counterfeit Gibson guitars! This week, we look at three recent areas where Gibson has been defending its trademarks and brand.
Guitar Journal
Trump Guitars
Late last week, news about President-Elect Donald Trump’s American Eagle Series of guitars broke across the internet. This limited edition guitar run is available in several versions, including an electric single-cut model and an acoustic guitar.
Make America Great Again
The guitars have “Make America Great Again” and “45” details, featuring an American Eagle and the US flag. They are very patriotic and available autographed by Mr Trump. These models will set you back over $10k each, or you can buy a standard one without his signature for around $1k-1.5k.
Who Manufactures Trump Guitars?
A statement on GetTrumpGuitars has the following to say about the guitars.
“All of the guitars featured on GetTrumpGuitars.com were custom-designed and developed by a Veteran owned company with the help of a master luthier. These guitars have been manufactured by multiple providers and include parts/features that are both domestic and international. This is standard with most guitar manufacturers.“
Gibson issues Cease & Desist
Gibson has sent Trump Guitars a cease and desist order because the single-cut model infringes on their trademarks.
In this statement shared with Guitar World, Gibson writes: “We can confirm a cease and desist has been issued against 16 Creative as the design infringes upon Gibson’s exclusive trademarks, particularly the iconic Les Paul body shape.”
It looks as though there could be some legal battles between Get Trump Guitars/ 16 Creative and Gibson shortly. I’m not sure how this would all work in court, but Gibson must defend their trademarks or could risk losing them.
Counterfeit Gibson Guitars Seized
On Saturday, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officials announced a record-breaking seizure of counterfeit Gibson electric guitars.
In collaboration with U.S. Homeland Security and the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department, agents intercepted over 3,000 fake guitars at the Port of Los Angeles, the nation’s busiest seaport.
These counterfeit guitars would have a market value exceeding $18 million if authentic. To raise awareness about the dangers of counterfeit products, especially during the holiday shopping season, all three agencies and Gibson officials will host a press conference on Tuesday morning in Carson, California.
How to spot a Chibson
Check out the video below to help identify genuine Gibson guitars and avoid purchasing counterfeit products, often manufactured in China and nicknamed “Chibsons. “
KDH Discusses Gibson Trademarks
KDH also uploaded a video about Gibson guitars and how they must protect their trademarks or potentially lose them. This video was made in response to another video uploaded by Glenn Fricker, in which Fricker claimed Gibson was picking on a small Canadian luthier.
Vicious Guitars
Vicious Guitars makes around nine guitars a year, but one was a Flying V model, which looks far too close to the body shape that Gibson has trademarked.
Gibson’s legal team sent them a cease-and-desist, and Fricker got a little upset (he does that) and made a video about it. He calls Gibson a bully and calls out various guitars by other brands, which he considers are also an infringement.
The confusion appears to be: what can a business trademark be?
Trademarks
Trademarks can be anything from shapes, colours, words or logos. They have to be defended and upheld if you want to hold onto them, and this is why Gibson has to issue cease-and-desist orders to protect its trademarks.
The confusion often comes from Gibson not owning the trademark in some countries or losing the court battle. Examples would be brands like ESP, which in Japan can build guitars similar to Gibson models (as Gibson has lost trademark cases in Japan). However, ESP could not sell these models within the USA, or they would be breaking US trademark law.
Fricker may have been confused about what constitutes a trademark and how some guitar brands do not infringe on Gibson trademarks, whereas some do.
Flying V Shapes
The KDH video covers the various V-shape models, which are not Gibson trademark infringements, and often, this is because the V-shapes are asymmetrical. Gibson’s trademark for the Flying V is for a symmetrical V body style, so if a guitar brand’s V-style guitar is asymmetrical, it doesn’t infringe on this particular Gibson trademark.
Below is one example taken from the KDH video.
Protecting Trademarks
I’m sure lines get blurred, though ultimately, Gibson must be seen to defend their trademarks, or they will lose them. American brands like Gibson are proud of their heritage and legally have the right to protect their trademarks.
The world of guitars has often seen battles between companies trying to enforce trademarks. Gibson is one of the larger brands, and it has many trademarks to defend.
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