Nobody touches the Stratocaster
While the market for vintage guitars continues to record staggering numbers at auction, a bitter legal battle around the design of the most iconic electric guitar ever. As reported by the “Wall Street Journal”, Fender launched a harsh judicial offensive against competing manufacturers and artisanal builders. The objective is to block the creation of instruments that recall the historic outline of the Stratocasterconceived by Leo Fender in the 1950s and immortalized by legends such as Jimi Hendrix, Eric Clapton and David Gilmour. The company sent formal warning letters requesting not only an immediate stop to production, but even the withdrawal and destruction of the copies in circulation.
Among those affected, famous brands such as PRS Guitars (known for its luxury instruments with fine finishes, considered a cross between the Fender and Gibson universes), and smaller artisan realities such as the Californian Lsl Instruments. The latter, to cover the huge legal costs, launched a fundraising campaign on GoFundMe. Lisa Lerman, the company’s owner, warned that a Fender victory would lead to “a monopoly” that would drastically limit the options available to guitarists around the world.
The response from Fender CEO Edward “Bud” Cole was not long in coming. While reiterating respect for independent entities, Cole underlined the moral and commercial obligation of protect historical models and the prestige of the brand. The executive also encouraged competitors, “in the name of innovation and competition”, to invest in the creation of completely new shapes and designs, ceasing to exploit the pioneering work carried out in his time by Leo Fender.
This new offensive reopens a chapter that was thought closed in 2009. At the time, the American Trademark Trial and Appeal Board had rejected Fender’s attempt to register the trademarks linked to the shapes of Stratocaster, Telecaster and Precision Bass. The US authorities agreed with a dozen competing companies, who argued that, after decades of global use, those designs had now become “generic” domain. However, a recent development in Europe has turned the tables: the regional court in Düsseldorf, Germany, ruled in favor of Fender in a lawsuit against a Chinese manufacturer (absent in the courtroom), setting an important precedent and recognizing the shape of the Stratocaster as a copyrighted work of art.
Fender’s legal move fits into a two-sided market landscape. On the one hand, the legendary aura of the Stratocaster is untouchable, as demonstrated by the recent record sale at Christie’s in New York of David Gilmour’s “Black Strat” for a whopping 14.55 million dollars. On the other hand, the mid-range new instruments sector is experiencing a post-pandemic contraction. After the sales boom recorded during the lockdowns of the Covid period by giants such as Fender, Gibson and PRS, the specialized magazine “Music Trades” today reports a physiological decline of 4% on an annual basis in sales of electric guitars and basses in the United States.
