Citation:
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.
