GIBSON WINS Dean Guitars Lawsuit.... Or Did They?

The lawsuit between Gibson and Dean Guitars is over! Who won? Technically Gibson won... but not in the way that they had hoped. This lawsuit was about the Flying V, Explorer, and SG body shapes, and whether or not Dean Guitars infringed on Gibson's intellectual property rights.

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Rubric: -5 points for Danzig references. -5 points for not reading the description. -5 points for not watching far enough into the video to answer your own question. -5 points for misquoting me in your comment. 20 points possible. Everyone starts with an A!

[BenAck]

Gibson: "We expect $7, 000, 000."
Court: "You will receive $4, 000."
Guitarist: "(Plays a dive bomb.)"

[thoughtsbeforesleep]

I'm worried that Gibson could use this to sue smaller companies that don't have money for court battles. I don't want to live in a world where my only options for a V or SG shaped guitar are from Gibson.

[Chord_The_Seeker]

I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again, I can’t remember how many times I’ve walked into a guitar store to buy a Gibson, but walked out with a Dean by mistake. I hope that this court ruling will prevent such tragedies in the future.

[thebaldshredder]

The money is insignificant. The court DECISION that Gibson owns those shapes (trademarks) has the potential to be huge. I see the following as an extremely realistic result: Gibson sends cease and desist letters to any and all companies making those shapes (like Firefly for instance). Think of how many budget level guitar companies make Flying V, Explorer, and Les Paul shaped guitars. And if those companies continue to sell them, Gibson can then sue under the premise that they were made aware of the trademark, asked to stop, but didn't. I could see the court awarding a much larger penalty for that now. This could be the end of cheap versions of the classic Gibson shapes. But what do I know? 😄

[kennyjohnson]

In what world did Dean ever sell what would fit the legal definition of counterfeiting ? Copyright infringement and counterfeiting are 2 very different things.

[PhilipCockram]

Gibson lost way more than $ 4000 in reputation for this frivolous and ridiculous lawsuit .

[BazonBlades]

I've only owned one Gibson guitar in over 35 years of playing. It was a custom shop LP Custom silver burst. And it was a clunky, shoddily made POS that I couldn't get rid of fast enough. I will never own another Gibson product of any kind.
Perhaps Gibson should concentrate on improving the quality of their product rather than attacking companies that make a better mousetrap.

[bradfordjeff]

Because Gibson did not defend their trademark when the Dean copies first came into the market, Gibson cannot come back decades later and claim decades worth of damages.

[BenjaminWoods]

Max, I'm diggin your guitar videos brother! Informative, thorough and inspiring, all while being yourself and not doing some fake comedy schtick for subs. I subscribed long ago. Keep it up brother! Play Authentic (kidding haha)

[eriktheredd]

I bought a brand new Dean V in May, 2022, and I really like it. Cheaper model, no Floyd Rose, no Mustaine paint, but I still love it. The binding is beautiful and the pickups are great. Fuck Gibson and their ball-baby bullshit.

[ericblaisdell]

I think Dean should pay Gibson with 400, 000 pennys. As a Gibson guitar owner I find these lawsuits embarrassing. IMHO if it doesn't say Gibson on the headstock it's not a Gibson, afterall name recognition and resale value are why Gibsons are so expensive. Sure as shit isn't top notch quality control.

[lostreb]

Thank you for covering this the way you have in the past as well as this one. I've stated before that Gibson totally alienated me by how they've handled anything and everything about this particular lawsuit to the point, I will never own another Gibson. I've been playing Fender Strats since I started playing in 1962. I have one Gibson Les Paul, and that's all I'll ever need (because I managed to become one of the many of the "I have to have at least one Les Paul" group). I'm ecstatic that Dean's "punishment" is having to pay the minimal amount of $ 4, 000 to Gibson. Is the only true winner in this Gibson vs Dean lawsuit actually the attorneys and legal teams!?!?!?!? They appear to be the ones seeing financial gains. (Just because that's my opinion doesn't mean it's everyone's.) Thank you for another great and informative video, Max. Please keep them coming!!!

[Tijuanabill]

There is also copyright law that says you can lose your trademark, if you knowingly permit it's infringement. Blizzard Games sued a counterfeit company running Warcraft servers, even though that company wasn't really making any money, and had no full time employees. They did it to preserve their intellectual property status as copyrighted, not necessarily because they were getting ripped off of that much money.

[Loilicorne]

When I first heard that Gibson was suing Dean, I imagined some real dark stuff.
But the more I read, the more ridiculous it got, like come on man.
Like imagine Fender suing every guitar company in the world because they have guitar models resembling a strat.

[MrPopel-hcfn]

but which guitar brand doesnt "infringe" upon gibson trademark? there are many more brands that have explorer, les paul, flying v, etc. guitars. what will gibson do about them?

[AtariForeva]

Lawyers won a ton. they can buy themselves a lawyer guitar something like Les Paul custom R9. Goes well with custom flamed maple office desk wood and the library shelving.

[kimthompson]

It’s pretty obvious the judgement was so low in order to keep Gibson from doing this on a larger scale to small guitar builders . They could literally start attacking a ton of guitar builders with lawsuits . Gibson showing it’s greed instead of trying to fix what’s been wrong with the company for years ! Great video Max !

[mburtondavis]

My opinion is that the shape might be similar but, they are 2 completely different guitars. I don’t think one person was like “I want a Gibson “ and bought a Dean instead. But, LTD on the other hand….

[larryjenks]

The "big win" for Gibson was the judgment that Gibson's body shapes were not generic, which presumably prevents trademark challenges down the road for Gibson. What this means for the guitar consuming public is that Gibson will continue to litigate themselves into a deeper financial and public-relations hole, thus passing on those costs to the consumer by further reducing the quality of their guitars. This is the corporate mindset in all its tortured glory.

Sometimes it's better to resist the impulse to talk someone off the ledge and just let 'em jump.

[jamesduckworth]

I guess the big question is, can Dean still produce their guitars?