The Hub

Since most of us fix or make guitars, we have probably heard something about the cease and desist letters Fender has sent out concerning the Stratocaster. I thought I would offer some thoughts. As always, caveat emptor. There are three basic ways to protect intellectual property under Federal law. Patent, trademark, and copyright. Each protects different things, and has different underlying legal theories. Lets begin with pate…

I have a "fender", which I believe is a knock off, in my shop. I didn't immediately catch that it was a fake, but as I worked on it it's become fairly undeniable, in my opinion. For the neck — the fretboard is made from two pieces of rosewood, the headstock decal doesn't look right, the truss rod is metric, the tuners don't look like a MIA Fender, and there's no walnut plug on the truss access. The model name being wrong is suspicio…