An attempt by Fender to trademark the body shapes of its Stratocaster, Telecaster and Precision models has been rejected. As reported by MusicRadar.com, in denying Fender's application, the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board of the United States Patent and Trademark Office wrote:
"The applicant has not established acquired distinctiveness such that these two-dimensional outlines of guitar bodies, standing alone, serve to indicate source. The evidence overwhelmingly demonstrates that these configurations are so common in the industry that they cannot identify source."
In a 75-page document, the Appeal Board went on to say "it does not appear that … third parties intended to copy applicant's guitar shapes for the purpose of confusing consumers and passing off applicant's guitar shapes as their own."
Litigation involving the trademark issue has been going on for five years. In the dispute, Fender had alleged that Stuart Spector Designs, US Music Corporation, ESP Guitars, Sadowsky Guitars, Lakland Musical Instruments, Peavey Electronics, Warmoth Guitar Products, Schecter Guitar Research, Michael Tobias, as well as other companies, had infringed on its designs.
The Appeal Board concluded that the body shape of the Stratocaster, in particular, was common enough to be depicted as "a generic electric guitar in a dictionary."
“While it may be that the more knowledgeable consumers are familiar with the history and origin of these shapes …,” the Board wrote, “based on the multitude of third-party sources for these body outlines and applicant’s failure to promote or police these outlines as trademarks, this record does not support a finding that consumers with varying degrees of knowledge would or could identify the source of a particular guitar based solely on the outline of these body configurations.”
To read the decision in its entirety, click here.