GIBSON LOSES FIREBIRD BODY SHAPE TRADEMARK IN EUROPE
Guitar.com: Back in June, Gibson lost an appeal in an EU court against losing its trademark for guitars that used the Flying V body shape. Now, the company has had a further mark cancelled for musical instruments – this time for the Firebird shape.
The decision, which was made by the Cancellation Division of the EU Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO), was handed down on 11 October 2019, and has strong parallels with the Flying V case.
In the decision, the Cancellation Division considered the Firebird body shape, and decided that it “does not consider this to be significantly different from the normal style of electric guitars”. The decision also cited Gibson waiting for almost 50 years after the Firebird’s introduction before filing for the trademark in 2011 as a contributing factor.
In further parallels, the application to cancel this trademark came from Hans-Peter Wilfer – the founder and owner of Warwick and Framus – who was also the applicant in the Flying V case. –READ MORE
Another hit for Gibson. https://t.co/NsYIYHLsI8
— Guitar.com (@guitar) October 24, 2019
