After 161 years Martin finally trademark their headstock shape
In its latest effort to protect its brand, guitar maker C.F. Martin & Co. has announced the trademark of the headstock configuration it has been using on its guitars for 161 years.
“The clean, simple, iconic shape of the Martin guitar headstock has long been recognized by consumers as one of the primary identifying brand and design elements of our guitars,” Vice President of Corporate Operations Gregory Paul said in a news release. “Use of this shape by others can only be intended to create confusion in the marketplace.”
Source: Press Release and http://articles.mcall.com/
A classic shape that should be protected. There’s too many cpoies around now.
During that podcast Pappy scowled a bit at the “lame-ness” of Martin’s actions in this, but if I’m not mistaken, it’s not just the shape of the headstock, the trademark would include the logo- not just the name, but the font/script and the color- everything about the headstock that makes it immediately identifiable by most as a Martin guitar. And this would be about time, since I understand that there is already a guitar maker in China that is making Martin clones, and the company actually uses the Martin name and the copies are pretty exact right down to the logo. And apparently Martin tried to put a stop to it, and according to Chinese law and authority, they were pretty powerless to do anything. Part of that whole experience was a wake up call for CF Martin USA to start being more diligent about protecting it’s intellectual property.