Brand Protection :

[FLICKOFLASH]

The problem of counterfeit guitars certainly isn’t a new one. For many years Gibson has faced the battle head-on, taking aggressive action to shut down entities illegally masquerading as Gibson or using Gibson’s brand names and trademarks unlawfully.

Gibson’s Manager of Brand Protection Ric Olsen said that Gibson has continued to fight even as counterfeiters and infringers have become more prevalent and more cunning at fooling consumers.

“With the current economic conditions we’re seeing such an increased abuse of our brand names and intellectual property this year,” Olsen said. “It’s amazing what’s going on right now. It’s a free-for-all, and people are trying to get away with it. But Gibson is bearing down harder than ever on the enforcement and protection of our valuable brand names and trademarks. We won’t stop fighting this.”

Eliminating counterfeit guitars continues to be one of Gibson’s top priorities for many reasons, but mostly because it is so clearly a concern to so many of our consumers.

Counterfeit Guitar Bust Yields 861 Gibson Fakes, Ends with Prison Sentence

 

[alvarado1357]

Crazy stuff.

I'm really amazed that Gibson et al. was able to get cooperation from the Chinese govt on this one; they've been very reluctant to acknowledge, let alone enforce, U.S. patent and trademark laws in the past.

Guess that means they're gettin to the point where they realize that it will soon be their own interests at stake. We live in interesting times.

I certainly hope Gibson has the good sense to avoid interfering with replica luthiers like several of the builders on this forum; seems to me their work serves to enhance Gibson's reputation rather than detract from it.

 

[j.six]

I certainly hope Gibson has the good sense to avoid interfering with replica luthiers like several of the builders on this forum; seems to me their work serves to enhance Gibson's reputation rather than detract from it.

I know I'm in the minority on that issue, but Gibson would be well within their rights in going after any infringement. The issue is that if you aren't consistent with brand protection, it'll bite you later. imo, the replica stuff drives me nuts, regardless of the brand it's replicating.

sully

 

[GreaseBox]

...Gibson would be well within their rights in going after any infringement...

sully

The law is the law. It would be a risk that anybody making a replica would have to enter the process knowing.

 

[bfcg]

Don't call it something that it is not and don't use logos.
Replicas are not meant to decieve the buyer. The buyer could add anything they want to the headstock as long as they don't try to sell it later even with the discloser that it is only a replica.
The reason most people buy replicas of the big brand name guitar companies is because you simply can not get the quality from the big brand names. They obviously counted their beans and found that it is more cost effective to pay lawyers than to bring back the quality.
It is not cheaper to build a true replica than it would be to buy a new off the wall guitar.
It requires the highest quality materials and it is very time consuming with attention paid to every detail.
I am glad that there are some people that are willing to pay for quality over brand name.