Shapes of Things
was applying for trademarks it had never had
before. The obvious question was, after five
decades of making Teles, Strats, and P basses,
why then? The company’s chief legal officer
Mark Van Vleet says it was a response to a
growing threat to the integrity of Fender’s
designs. “With the advent of the internet and
with manufacturing in China being so prevalent, our primary concern was trying to deal
with counterfeits and infringements—
companies and people who are clearly trying to
ride on Fender’s history, Fender’s place in the
industry, and Fender’s iconic status to sell their
goods by confusing consumers.” Van Vleet
also says Ron Bienstock was being premature
and speculative in his assertions that Fender
was going to use its new trademark to muscle-in on small luthiers.
“Our position is not that we were trying to
monopolize anything,” says Van Vleet. “We
simply believed that we had the rights to
these designs and, therefore, were trying to
obtain rights that we were entitled to, just like
we have in the past and like many other companies in the industry have done. We certainly
A 1954 Strat owned by Clifford Antone. Photo by Billy Mitchell taken from Electric Guitars & Basses: A
Photographic History by George Gruhn and Walter Carter, © Gruhn Guitars, used by permission.
