Fender Sue Guitar Company Over Cheap Strats and Tele’s.
Guitar makers Fender have come out winners from legal action taken out against Danish retailer Musik Bixen for infringing on its intellectual property. The American guitar giant took the dealer to court for advertising and selling guitars that infringed upon Fender Musical Instruments Corporation’s (FMIC) trademark registrations.
The result was that the Danish Maritime and Commercial High Court judged in favour of Fender and has prohibited Musik Bixen from importing, exporting, marketing or selling any products containing Fender’s trademarks. It was also ordered to pay Fender damages for its infringements, as well as legal fees in the litigation. The retailer was also ordered to post the judgement on its website and pay an undisclosed figure as a fine to the government.
Fender said in a statement: “On March 19, 2014, the Court ultimately concluded that Musik Bixen advertised and sold numerous guitars that infringed upon FMIC’s trademark registrations. FMIC tried to resolve the dispute out of court, but Musik Bixen did not respond favorably to informal negotiations. As a result, FMIC initiated and obtained a preliminary injunction in August 2010 wherein the Court authorized the seizure of the infringing items. Rather than seeking an amicable resolution after the seizure, Musik Bixen responded defiantly and asserted, as its defense, that FMIC’s trademark registrations are generic and therefore not entitled to protection.
“After both parties submitted considerable evidence in advance of the final hearing, Musik Bixen chose not to attend the final hearing in February, 2014. After considering FMIC’s evidence and arguments at the hearing, as well as the parties’ previously submitted, voluminous evidence, the Court concluded that Musik Bixen did not meet its burden of proving that consumers of musical instruments perceive FMIC’s trademarks as “common designations”. In reaching this conclusion, the Court considered FMIC’s, and its affiliates’, extensive marketing and sales of products containing FMIC trademarks in Denmark, Scandinavia and worldwide, its aggressive enforcement of its trademarks, and the fact that it is not common in the industry to designate products as “copies” or “clones.”
Mark Van Vleet, chief legal officer for FMIC, also added: “This decision sends a strong message in Denmark, Scandinavia and throughout the European Union that FMIC will not tolerate infringements of its intellectual property. While FMIC encourages competition in the marketplace, we will not allow others to infringe on our intellectual property.”