New Fender body patents

[wodka]

I came across this discussion on the Melancon forum. Apparently Fender is currently trying to patent the tele and strat body shapes.

http://205.214.78.138/board/showthre...5&pagenumber=1

[wodka]

Re: New Fender body patents

Here's another thread

http://www.hugeracksinc.com/board/viewtopic.php?t=4223

[pro-fusion]

Re: New Fender body patents

I think that horse left the barn a long time ago...

I don't practice trademark law, but the fact that they sat for so long on whatever trademark rights they have in the strat and tele shapes without any attempt at registration or enforcement would have to weigh against them being able to enforce it now. Of course, they could just try to throw a bunch of lawyers at anyone who dares to produce a strat or tele.

Oh well, I guess Jackson won't have to worry about it...

[SLY]

Re: New Fender body patents

They should do the same with Jackson models (randy, soloist...). If it works, it would be such a hard time for ESP [img]graemlins/laugh.gif[/img] .

[mudkicker]

Re: New Fender body patents

I don't see this becoming an issue, fender has waited to long to try any legal actions to trade mark the strat and tele shapes. After 50 plus years I don't believe anyone will take fender seriously. It was a non issue a few years ago. That would be like ford running to the courts saying that any company using an assembly line must pay them for their original concept. If fender wants to dominate the guitar market make better guitars and stop flooding it with a mediocre(sp)product.

[Newc]

Re: New Fender body patents

Ford can't claim a damn thing as their trademark (i.e. assembly line, safety glass, anti-lock brakes, etc) because they (along with GM and Chrysler) stole everything from a guy named Tucker.
Go rent the video "Tucker: A Man and his Dream" and see the railroading "The Big 3" gave this guy.

Newc

[StukaJU87]

Re: New Fender body patents

Originally posted by Newc:
Ford can't claim a damn thing as their trademark (i.e. assembly line, safety glass, anti-lock brakes, etc) because they (along with GM and Chrysler) stole everything from a guy named Tucker.
Go rent the video "Tucker: A Man and his Dream" and see the railroading "The Big 3" gave this guy.

Newc

<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">Ford stole the assembly line idea from Tucker??? [img]graemlins/scratchhead.gif[/img] [img]graemlins/laugh.gif[/img]

[Dreamland_Rebel]

Re: New Fender body patents

didn't he make only 50 cars in the end, before they shut him down.

[StukaJU87]

Re: New Fender body patents

Originally posted by Newc:
Ford can't claim a damn thing as their trademark (i.e. assembly line, safety glass, anti-lock brakes, etc) because they (along with GM and Chrysler) stole everything from a guy named Tucker.
Go rent the video "Tucker: A Man and his Dream" and see the railroading "The Big 3" gave this guy.

Newc

<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">Tucker autos were built in 1948. Ford started the assembly line over 30 years earlier according to this which I found on the net.

Ford revolutionized manufacturing. By 1914, his Highland Park, Michigan plant, using innovative production techniques, could turn out a complete chassis every 93 minutes. This was a stunning improvement over the earlier production time of 728 minutes. Using a constantly-moving assembly line, subdivision of labor, and careful coordination of operations, Ford realized huge gains in productivity.

In 1914, Ford began paying his employees five dollars a day, nearly doubling the wages offered by other manufacturers. He cut the workday from nine to eight hours in order to convert the factory to a three-shift workday. Ford's mass-production techniques would eventually allow for the manufacture of a Model T every 24 seconds. His innovations made him an international celebrity.

<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">

[shadowcat]

Re: New Fender body patents

But it hasn't stopped them, right? [img]images/icons/wink.gif[/img]

*looks over to his pre-fender DKMGT and nods*

Or are you talking about the original strat shape, not superstrats?

[Jim Shine]

Re: New Fender body patents

Maybe (only interesting thoughts, not trying to create a debate) Fender has been planning this for a while. Lets say they could patent or trademark the Strat body design. There is a really good chance Jackson could get away with the Dinky body shape (after all, it is as much like a Strat body as a Kelly is to an Explorer body, or a King V to a Gibson V), so Fender buys them to secure that shape (maybe V and Kelly shapes as well). Then there is the debate over the Bigsby headstock being the inspiration for the Fender headstock. Why doesn't someone from Bigsby fight Fender? Last I knew Bigsby was bought out by Gretsch, and guess who has that company in their back pocket now.

[sully]

Re: New Fender body patents

Originally posted by Fifth_Horseman:
But it hasn't stopped them, right? [img]images/icons/wink.gif[/img]

*looks over to his pre-fender DKMGT and nods*

Or are you talking about the original strat shape, not superstrats?

<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">yes, the full sized strat bodies, not the dinkies.

sully

[RP]

Re: New Fender body patents

Of course, the new Charvels appeared to be traditional strat-body shaped. And they had a tele shaped Charvel, as well, at NAMM.

[Subvamp]

Re: New Fender body patents

Hey, I actually know something about this! [img]images/icons/grin.gif[/img]
A few yeas ago, I was building guitars for the guys in the Misfits. We had a bit of a falling out, for a bunch of reasons, and I stopped making the guitars. When I made a few of the same design for other people, they hit me with a big ol' lawsuit. To make a long story short, my lawyer found some precedent somewhere, and as long as I didn't make "identical copies" of those original designs, I couldn't be held liable. So now when I make them, I just make the bodies slightly different and use a different headstock shape. I guess that's why you see a million Les Paul "copies" out there.

[xenophobe]

Re: New Fender body patents

Originally posted by StukaJU87:
Tucker autos were built in 1948. Ford started the assembly line over 30 years earlier according to this which I found on the net.

<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">That's by 1914. His "assembly line" had already been in high-gear for over a decade before that.

The credit for the "Assembly line" should really been given to Oliver Winchester for his production work in the 1880's on up, (Winchester Rifles [img]images/icons/tongue.gif[/img] ). He started in the 1860s, but didn't actually start producing in great quantities till a bit later.

Although the Henry Repeating Rifles were mostly hand made, they didn't incorporate the production/assembly line style production that Oliver Winchester set up for his rifles far before Henry Ford actually even considered making automobiles.

So.... [img]graemlins/evilimages/icons/tongue.gif[/img]