Judge Dismisses Gibson’s Latest Claim Against Dean Guitars in Trademark Case Gibson Won
A judge has thrown out Gibson's latest legal claim against its guitar manufacturing rival Dean Guitars after Gibson won a trademark infringement case against Dean earlier this year.
In July, Dean was ordered by the court to stop manufacturing its V Series, Z Series and Gransport Series electric guitars, as Yahoo! reported. The models were found to infringe on corresponding guitar shapes coined by Gibson — the Gibson Flying V, Gibson Explorer and Gibson SG, respectively.
That decision affirmed a previous ruling from May when a jury rejected a claim by Dean's parent company, Armadillo, that the Gibson designs were now "generic" and "unprotectable." In 2019, Gibson filed suit against Dean alleging trademark infringement and counterfeiting, according to Guitar World.
But last month, Gibson newly argued that Dean should be held in contempt of court for continuing to advertise its V and Z Series guitars after they were ordered to cease manufacture. Gibson claimed Dean still was still advertising the models on its website and on social media. (As of this posting, Dean's V Series and Z Series webpages are still available, but with no product present.)
However, Gibson's latest argument was overruled by the judge.
"Almost all the issues raised in Gibson's contempt motions have been resolved," the court stated. The decision was handed down by Judge Amos Mazzant III in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Texas on Oct. 31.
The new order added that "any new arguments that were raised in the pending motion were resolved by the parties."
Back in 2019, Dean argued that it had "continuously offer[ed] the V- and Z-shaped guitars at issue in the lawsuit since at least 1976," saying other guitar companies "have for decades used the commonplace guitar shapes that Gibson now tries to claim exclusive rights to."
After the July decision, Gibson said that it was "once again very pleased with the outcome after years of simply trying to protect their brand and business through well recognized intellectual property rights, rights that have been Gibson's for decades."
It added, "Gibson's guitar shapes are iconic and now are firmly protected for the past, present and future. … Gibson can now focus attention on continuing to leverage its iconic past and invest in future innovation."