GoKawiilFender has laid down the gauntlet in its protection of the Stratocaster body shape, sending a cease and desist to a US firm, ordering it to stop production of its S-style electric guitars.
As per documents obtained by YouTubers Phillip McKnight and Tone Nerd, Fender sent the cease and desist letter via its lawyers, Bird & Bird, to a small family-run guitar company based in the US, LsL Instruments.
The letter is allegedly part of a number of cease-and-desists sent to a range of US-based builders ordering them to halt production. McKnight claims to have heard from at least half-a-dozen firms who have received such correspondence.
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The development comes after Fender secured a landmark ruling in Germany, in which the Regional Court of Dusseldorf established a legal precedent to protect the Stratocaster body design.
According to Fender, the outcome of the case – launched against a Chinese manufacturer – gave the firm the legal right to “protect its designs in global commerce”.
It established the Stratocaster as a "copyrighted work of art” based on “original creative expression”, and any firms operating or selling Stratocaster-inspired guitars in the EU were believed to be at risk of falling afoul of the ruling.
However, at the time, the ramifications of the ruling were unclear, and it wasn’t fully understood just how extensively Fender could, and would, enforce the case that came out of the Regional Court of Dusseldorf.
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