http://www.prsguitars.com/news/stori...5_victory.html
Appellate Court Awards Victory to Paul Reed Smith Guitars (PRS) Over Gibson
In a long-pending trademark dispute between PRS Guitars and Gibson Guitars Corp., the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit today reversed a lower court decision and ordered the dismissal of Gibson's suit against PRS. The decision also immediately vacates the injunction prohibiting the sale and production of PRS’s award winning Singlecut® Guitar. Paul Reed Smith Guitars announced today that it will immediately resume production of its Singlecut® guitars.
Paul Smith, the founder of PRS, stated “We are delighted that the appellate court affirmed what we and the industry have long known: the PRS Singlecuts® are musical instruments of the highest quality that would never be confused with a competitor’s product.”
In the litigation, Gibson alleged that concert goers in a smoky concert hall might not be able to differentiate a PRS Singlecut® from a Gibson Les Paul. The appellate court rejected that trademark theory out-of-hand, emphasizing Gibson’s concession in court arguments that “only an Idiot” would confuse the two products at the point of sale.
William Coston, PRS lawyer, observed that the decision is a vindication of PRS’ meritorious defense of unfounded allegations: “We agree with the Court and Gibson’s own counsel that 'only an Idiot ' would be confused". Sadly, the injunction lasted too long and the court process was too long and costly, depriving consumers of the right to choose between the PRS Singlecut® and the Gibson Les Paul. We hope that Gibson will now compete in the marketplace and not use litigation to obtain unfair advantage.
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