Clint Green wrote:
I was told at the music store that Gibson actually had a lawsuit against Tokai, of which the outcome was that they change their headstock shape on the Gibson clones. Now think to yourself: how many guitar companies have made LP clones and haven't gotten a second look from Gibson? I would go so far as to speculate that maybe Gibson actually felt threatened by Tokai because their quality it just that good, and at half the price. A bold statement, but think about it!
Music stores ?
Gibson had a lawsuit against the
importers of Ibanez into the USA regarding the headstock shape - which Ibanez had already changed by that stage. They settled out of court.
Gibson has managed to trademark the headstock in one or two countries. And sometimes the shape of the cutaway (which is a bit weird since Gibson changed the cutaway shape themselves in the '70s before changing back in the early '80s).
It's quite tricky selling Gibson clones in the USA which is much happier to accept Gibson's trade-mark arguments. In the UK, Tokais are sold with a small "dimple" in the headstock. Elsewhere in the world, Tokais all have the same headstock shape as '50s Gibsons.
Tokai has, to my knowledge, never been sued for copyright violation. Gibson does use the threat of lawsuits in some places against competitors, since they are big enough to handle the costs even if they lose, while small competitors cannot even afford to win.
