Fender issuing cease & desists everywhere

Plectrum

octatonic said:

So lots of vendors will pull out of Germany now.

The one they sued a while ago was selling on Alibaba IRC not importing into German retail. Fender only "won" the case because the defendant didn't sent someone over from China to defend themselves in court. The actual merits of Fender's claim were never tested. I'm told that there's no equivalent of case law, such as we and the USA have, in German law so all the Chinese seller has to do is sell under a different name and Fender are back at square one. It will be interesting to see if Fender go after Thomann. That could be very risky for them as Thomann can afford to defend themselves in court and suing one of their largest retailers in Europe would be an extremely stupid move. Then again Fender are American; never underestimate the stupidity of Americans.

Offset

Plectrum said:

Then again Fender are American; never underestimate the stupidity of Americans.

That really is a gross, and crass, generalisation @Plectrum .

Emp_Fab

Plectrum said:
 never underestimate the stupidity of people but a large number of Americans in particular.

FTFY

stickyfiddle

At this point it’s like trying to claim because Rolls Royce was the first car maker to use a V8 engine that now nobody is allowed it. But making that claim in 1980, instead of 1915

It’s preposterous 

My guess is they’re not hitting anywhere near the daft revenue targets they almost certainly set themselves after silly growth from 2019-2022 (and because of “Number Go Up” doctrine) they’re flailing rather than innovating 

I still fancy a JMJ Mustang Bass at some point. I’ll buy used.. 

Jetsam1

As a generalisation it does appear in keeping with modern US corporate culture.

I find the push for slightly silly quarterly growth levels daft when you are still very profitable but don't hit the arbitrary line set.

ElectricXII

Jetsam1 said:

As a generalisation it does appear in keeping with modern US corporate culture.

I find the push for slightly silly quarterly growth levels daft when you are still very profitable but don't hit the arbitrary line set.

The new CEO has promises to keep I assume.

GoFish

There's alos the question of insularity which, for an international corporation, is a bit silly. What sounds like a good idea in California doesn't always translate to the wider world. 

Fender's fall off in the last seven odd years has been quite spectacular. From arguably the best it's been since the 60s to hit & miss. That's the way cycles are. 

Sporky

Jetsam1 said:

As a generalisation it does appear in keeping with modern US corporate culture.

I think it's more late-stage capitalism than specifically American, though you could argue the former is the latter. 

maltingsaudio

Interesting business stratagem , can’t sell our shit because everyone else makes it cheaper and better. Can’t be arsed to spend millions on making our product more competitive, so will spend millions on suing the opposition and in the long term fight a war we can never win. So who’s going to profit , the lawyers and the companies being sued because you can’t buy advertising like that 

Offset

Jetsam1 said:

As a generalisation it does appear in keeping with modern US corporate culture.

US political culture most definitely.

Plectrum

Offset said:

Plectrum said:

Then again Fender are American; never underestimate the stupidity of Americans.

That really is a gross, and crass, generalisation @Plectrum .

You're entitled to your opinion, as am I.

normula1

ElectricXII said:

The new CEO has a bonus dangling in front of hi nose.  FTFY

guyinlyon

fretmeister said:

They are so obviously upset at Thomann / Harley Benton showing it’s possible to make something 90% of the quality for 20% of the money.

My Harley Benton ST-Modern Plus should arrive tomorow.

€400 for a pro-grade superstrat...

Screw Fender.

gavin_axecaster

You have to assume that if they targeted Thomann it will get contested - Thomann produce and sell a whole bunch of Strat style guitars that fall under the umbrella of the previous Fender "win" in German court. If they didn't target Thomann that will be used against Fender in any subsequent lawsuit.

Plus isn't Thomann the second largest Fender dealer in the world or something? Not sure I'd be trying to strong arm my second biggest customer in the current economic climate.

Offset

Plectrum said:

Offset said:

Plectrum said:

Then again Fender are American; never underestimate the stupidity of Americans.

That really is a gross, and crass, generalisation @Plectrum .

You're entitled to your opinion, as am I.

Indeed so.

musteatbrain

Is this stemming from the case where the other side didn’t show up? 

I’m sure Fender will lose when some of the larger businesses legally challenge back.

Total dick move by Fender in my view.

ICBM

It may be one of those cases where they don't expect to win but need to go through the motions to show they're doing something. It doesn't directly apply to the body shape, but if they don't actively defend their trademarks on the headstock shapes they will lose them, and this may be a deterrent to companies thinking of trying that on as well. Rickenbacker are notoriously litigious over every little detail exactly for this reason - and they're one of the few companies that do retain most of their original design IP.

ScreamingDave

Just out of interest, and I’m not expressing an opinion here either way, but as a group, do we think it’s OK for someone to exactly copy somebody else’s design and make money out of it?

darthed1981

Offset said:

Plectrum said:

Offset said:

Plectrum said:

Then again Fender are American; never underestimate the stupidity of Americans.

That really is a gross, and crass, generalisation @Plectrum .

You're entitled to your opinion, as am I.

Indeed so.

andyman

ScreamingDave said:

Just out of interest, and I’m not expressing an opinion here either way, but as a group, do we think it’s OK for someone to exactly copy somebody else’s design and make money out of it?

Are people buying copies for the body shape though?
It's usually the other stuff, like build quality and electronics.