“You’re gonna have to face it, you’re addicted to law!”
Well, that’s what the song always sounded like to me. When you’re a hammer… (and I do try to be a hammer!) …
Surely the subject of that years-ago Robert Palmer MTV cheesecake staple must be Gibson, the litigation-addled guitar company. (Yes, one of the three guitars in the video may very well have been a Gibson, as I vaguely remember it!) And, as I’ll explain, they’re at it again.
From the very beginning I’ve pondered all these out-of-tune lawsuits, followed them and mostly spanked Gibson and fellow guitar litigator Fender — and maybe a little bit got spanked back here, you think? (I don’t) — for litigating instead of making beautiful musical instruments and selling them to make beautiful music.
Not that litigation isn’t music to my ears. It is! So I’m going to enjoy — I’m going to give thanks, even — for this posting from Trademark Scroll that, well, is just this Scribd upload of the complaint with the highly descriptive title, “Gibson Guitar is suing multiple defendants, including Wal-Mart, Amazon, eBay and others over trademark infringement.” I actually see the outlines of a strategy: keep thinking of defendants until you find one you can win against!
Works for me! Especially considering that, well, there is always the possibility that this time Gibson really is right. Right?
Originally posted 2013-04-15 14:30:56. Republished by Blog Post Promoter
Good thing Stradivarius isn’t around to yell at all the fiddle monkeys for copying his uniform density design. (“Hey, quit using wood from Croatia to make your violins, you IP thieves!! I came up with the idea of using wood from maple trees — moi! — not you! You go use an oak tree, you, or you’re gonna get it!”).
You’d think Gibson would have learned its lesson by now and stick to handing out free guitars on its little island in Second Life.
It’s clearly a very explicit business strategy choice. Part of the problem, however, is that it comes about 30 years too late.