Gibson Guitars: In Good Shape

In this article, we'll be looking at a recent US court judgment that deals with an issue that we discuss with some regularity – shape trade marks and, indeed, the wider issue of the legal protection afforded to product shapes.

The Gibson case

A US court has held, in the case of Gibson Brands Inc. v. Armadillo Distribution Enterprises Inc. and Concordia Investments Partners LLC, that certain trade mark registrations of the guitar-maker Gibson, relating to the shapes of some of its most famous guitars, are not generic and are therefore valid trade marks. The court found that a company with its Dean-branded guitars was guilty of infringing Gibson's Flying V, Explorer, ES, and SG body shape trade marks. However, the jury also found that Gibson waited too long to enforce its rights in the trade marks and awarded minimal damages in the amount of USD4 000 out of the USD7-million sought by Gibson.