Fender แพ้คดีลิขสิทธิ์ body ของ start , Tele, P bass และ J bass

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Fender แพ้คดีลิขสิทธิ์ body ของ start , Tele, P bass และ J bass หลังจากได้พยายามฟ้องเพื่อไม่ให้ผู้ผลิตรายอื่น ทำกีตาร์ที่มีลำตัวเหมือน Startocaster, Telecaster, P Bass และ J Bass ออกมา

นั่นหมายถึง Fender ไม่มีสิทธิ์ที่จะฟ้องร้องผู้ผลิตรายอื่นอีกต่อไป และใครอยากจะทำกีตาร์ที่มี body เหมือน Fender เป๊ะๆ ก็ทำได้ตามใจชอบครับ

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นี่เป็นข้อความที่ บอร์ดของ Suhr ครับ

We just received the call from our law firm and... We won!!!

The Strat, Tele, P-Bass and J-Bass body shapes are generic, in public domain and free for anyone to use. This is a historical Federal citable case and we'd like to thank and congratulate all in the consortium of opposers to Fender's trademark application. These companies include Anderson, Schecter, Warmoth, ESP, First Act, Peavey and another dozen or so.

The sky is all clear and sunny now. This whole thing had been like a dark cloud hanging over our heads and now the cloud is dispersed for good. Man, I'd just love to walk through the offices of Fender HQ and see the look on the faces of the execs there who thought they were going to get away with this. They got totally pwned in this case and I can't help but gloat about this decision.

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It needs to be understood that there is a difference between a patent and a trademark. Leo did get the patent for the Strat body shape in the 50's but a patent runs out after a dozen years or so, so that patent ran its course by the mid-60's. A trademark is more about the visual distinction or a name of a product while a patent typically covers innovative functional aspects as an invention.

Like you say, it's Fender allowing these body shapes to become a public domain property with a large industry being built around them and then trying to yank that away as they realize their business growth is slowing and they're looking to go public. If they had the trademark, we wouldn't have bothered offering models like the Classic and the Classic T. In fact, when John started Suhr Guitars in '97, he checked with the Fender executives if it'd be okay for him to use the shapes. The Fender executives back then said, "Sure. Just stay away from doing our headstocks but we can't do anything about the body shapes."

But that was around 11 years ago and things have changed a lot at Fender since then. The new venture capital management company that took over Fender decided that they want ownership of the shapes and charge anyone making similar shapes a hefty royalty charge or prevent other companies from using the shapes altogether. So, naturally, many companies, including us, had an issue with that and we fought it. The thing is that CBS in the mid-60's or the new management under Bill Schultz in the mid-80's could have applied and gotten the trademark but they didn't. Well, it's all water under the bridge now.

We acknowledge that it's a brilliant design that's timeless and classic, but it has become as generic as the shape of a violin or a dreadnaught acoustic guitar. If Fender had won this, it would have set a very bad precedent for a company like Martin to go back and trademark their acoustic body shapes and Fender could have even gone after the look of the single-coil pickups, the pickguard, the bridges, and even the superstrat shapes and all 6-in-line headstocks. There would have been no end to what they could go after. Anyway, that's all I've got to say about this matter. We're just happy that we can go on about our business and not have to waste our resources on this issue anymore.

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สรุปว่าไง

สรุปว่า ผมอยากซื้อ suhr สักตัว
ปัญหาคือ option มันเยอะเสียจน ผมไม่รู้จะสั่งอย่างไร ถึงจะถูกใจ

จริงๆแล้ว ผมอยากได้ Start สักตัว
Les paul สักตัว
ปัญหาคือ ผมไม่เคยชอบตัวใดที่ผมได้ลองเลย
(ไม่นับพวก custom shop นะครับ แต่ผมคงไม่ซื้อกีตาร์ที่มีราคาเกิน 3,500$ หรอกครับ)
คงต้องรอซื้อจาก Suhr นี่ละครับ
เห็นว่าจะทำกีตาร์แบบ Les paul ออกมาด้วยในอนาคต