This is a major concern in the mean time; Fender putting other manufacturers to legal task for infringing its Stratocaster body design copyright. I'm reading this with interest as an individual who used to be in the legal fraternity here once upon a time. It was a brief stint but an eye-opening experience. I refrained from commenting because my legal knowledge is strictly based on domestic understanding & more importantly, I'm not a lawyer.
Fender claimed there are enterprises out there infringing the Stratocaster body design copyright. In my opinion, this is the glaring fundamental legal failure that should put Fender's efforts to nought. With reference to intellectual property rights, a design cannot be copyrighted. Copyright protects authorship (Osborn, 1993). Leo Fender invented the Stratocaster body shape & by virtue of this understanding (its capability of industrial application, Osborn 1993), it would move into the patent domain. Until Fender is able to show a definitive legal ownership / registration of the Stratocaster body, it has no case to begin with.
Another important point to note here is the default judgment obtained by Fender (Regional Court of Dusseldorf, March 2026). This judgment type merely acknowledges the complainant's points of contention in view of the respondent's failure to appear in court. There were no damages awarded or entailment rights conferred to the complainant so Fender has absolutely no authority to tell others what to do with potentially offensive inventory (stop production, destroy inventory, pay compensation, etc.). Also, I am not aware of cross jurisdiction in this case; can a judgment in a German court be used as a basis to initiate legal action in the USA?
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