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ARTICLE · 27 MAY 2026

Fender Stratocaster: Protecting An American Icon

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Recent reports suggest that American guitar maker Fender has stepped up its legal action to assert intellectual property (IP) rights in its iconic Stratocaster guitar, including sending...

United KingdomIntellectual Property
Philip Cupitt
Philip Cupitt
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Recent reports suggest that American guitar maker Fender has stepped up its legal action to assert intellectual property (IP) rights in its iconic Stratocaster guitar, including sending cease-and-desist letters to rival guitar manufacturers.

As a guitarist and a patent attorney, I was surprised and intrigued by these reports. Fender launched the Stratocaster (or “Strat” for short) in 1954, and it has been widely copied ever since. How can Fender assert its IP rights in the Stratocaster after all this time, and could they take similar action in the United Kingdom?

What makes a Stratocaster?

The Stratocaster is one of many guitars designed by Leo Fender, the founder of the Fender Electric Instrument Company (now known as the Fender Musical Instruments Corporation). Leo Fender was a prolific inventor who, alongside designing the Jaguar, Jazzmaster and Mustang six-string guitars, designed the seminal Precision Bass and Jazz Bass four-strings and many enduring guitar and bass

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