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Comments
- Today's prices are outrageous
- Grrrr! I hate flippers
- I love/hate relics
- I do/don't believe in tonewoods
- I've never heard of him/her/it/them
- I've read that name and now I'm going to go off on one (to be used whever E Clapton, P Townshend or J Page is mentioned)
- I use red Jazz IIIs
Nobody would ever have to type anything again (except in Off Topic and Politics Economics).Would be surprised if Paul Smith & James Curleigh drink at the same bar and after a couple of rounds hatch a plan to sue the crap out of one another for shits, giggles and clicks.
PS: "Hey, you should launch that ugly-ass Ted McCarty design".
JC: "No way man, it's fugly, nobody would buy it".
PS: "Tell you what, you build it, I'll sue, that should raise enough attention, it'll walk out the door".
JC: "Sure, and I'll counter-sue....... shit, what for though?"
PS: "Man, good question..... what have I done since 1985 that you haven't sued me for yet?"
JC: "Got it! How about I concoct some issue about your Silver Sky thing? We had the Silverburst thing going on first."
PS: "Hmm, that's tenuous, but it just might work."
JC: "Great stuff, I'll call my lawyers, you get another round in. Same again please, buddy."
Edit: I might be a bit out of date with who the current Gibbo CEO is this week ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
There is no 'H' in Aych, you know that don't you? ~ Wife
Turns out there is an H in Haych! ~ Sporky
Bit of trading feedback here.
Perhaps 20 years on, PRS has deep enough pockets to avenge the Singlecut lawsuit. All a bit disappointing, really…
It’s like when PRS said the NF53 was their best selling guitar of 2023 but it was based on dealer orders and dealer orders for a new model will always be higher than a model they already have in stock…
On the lawsuit, the PRS side is tenuous but if the McCarty estate don’t want the association then I think that makes the action more justifiable.
"Take these three items, some WD-40, a vise grip, and a roll of duct tape. Any man worth his salt can fix almost any problem with this stuff alone." - Walt Kowalski
"Only two things are infinite - the universe, and human stupidity. And I'm not sure about the universe." - Albert Einstein
And unless you're Elvis or Christ, what's in a first name?!
It's all nonsense.
Well, The Fretboard doesn't add many clicks to the site in all fairness. However, I like to read the reactions from a dedicated bunch of guitar enthusiasts from the UK. Because, you lot (including myself) have some valid opinions, which often shape what I write about next, and sometimes I will re-edit the article having seen your initial reactions.
You all work well as a 'gauge' for how to write and make content for a news site. Whereas, other forums I belong to are way more 'American' and have very different reactions.
Most of the site traffic comes from Google (around 40-60%, then, various other search engine traffic, next up is normally direct from Facebook/Instagram, then US forums like TGP, etc
Mainly because traffic for Guitar News is very US-focused in terms of who searches for it. This is the same for every site I write for about guitars and music gear in general.
I value all your input and opinions, so I often share news articles here about new stuff or stupid legal cases. Though, I'm more than happy not to share any more stuff here (if it annoys you all).
Either way, cheers for your opinions on this latest PRS/Gibson case, as it pretty much aligns with my thoughts on the whole debacle.
'Petitioners, Paul Reed Smith Guitars (“Petitioner PRS”) and the Estate of Theodore M. McCarty (“Petitioner Estate”), seek to cancel trademark registration No. 6783631 for the mark THEODORE in standard characters for “stringed musical instruments,” owned by Respondent, Gibson Brands, Inc. As grounds for cancellation, Petitioner PRS alleges a claim of likelihood of confusion under Trademark Act Section 2(d), 15 U.S.C. § 1052(d), and Petitioner Estate alleges a claim of false suggestion of a connection under Trademark Act Section 2(a), 15 U.S.C. § 1052(a). In support of those claims, Petitioners rely, in part, on Petitioner PRS’s trademark registration of the mark MCCARTY in typeset letters for “musical instruments, namely guitars,” and allege, inter alia, that Theodore McCarty assigned to Petitioner PRS an exclusive license for use and registration of the name McCarty as a trademark and the right of publicity of his persona.
Although Respondent admits “its THEODORE guitar is based upon or inspired by Ted McCarty’s original blueprints for a never-before-made guitar, which were found in Gibson’s archives and dated 18 March 1957,” and “its THEODORE guitar is named after Ted McCarty,” Respondent otherwise denies the salient allegations set forth in the First Amended Petition for Cancellation.'
TL;DR: The First Amended Petition prays that Gibson's trademark for THEODORE be cancelled because the name is associated with Ted McCarty in the guitar industry, the guitar is named after him, Gibson promotes the association between McCarty and the guitar, Gibson does not have the right to use the association with McCarty, consumers will recognise the association, consumers are likely to mistakenly believe Theodore guitars are associated with PRS and the McCarty Estate, so Registrant's use of the Theodore mark creates a likelihood of confusion.