(NASHVILLE, TN, Monday, July 1, 2019)
Since emerging from bankruptcy less than a year ago,
Gibson
has made significant progress in the key areas that matter most to guitarists around the world. With a
clear focus on quality
, a
new collection
of
Original
and
Modern guitars
, and a more
confident Dealer
and
Artist base
, the new team at
Gibson
have proven they can listen to the market to create new solutions. But there is still more work to be done and the new team at
Gibson
remain on a mission.
While new management is
building on the legacy, quality and craftsmanship
that guitarists have come to love and expect from
Gibson
, they will also
continue to manage and attempt to resolve the conflicts of the past
.
Apart from inheriting an iconic brand, the team have also inherited a host of challenges that they realized would take time to achieve proper resolution. A clear challenge has been in the area of brand protection, where a legacy of legal issues exist with both legitimate companies in the industry infringing on iconic trademarks and with illegitimate entities attempting to counterfeit, ‘knock-off’ and pretend to be
Gibson
in the market.
Over the past eight months, the team have
successfully dealt with over 4,500 counterfeit and ‘knock-off’ guitars coming from overseas
that were clearly designed to confuse the consumer into thinking they were buying a real
Gibson
. Since November (2018), there have been
dozens of counterfeit website ‘take-downs,’
also designed to confuse the guitarist into thinking they were entering a legitimate, official website. On a weekly basis,
Gibson
receives multiple queries and concerns from guitarists mislead into purchasing what they thought was a genuine
Gibson
that turned out to be counterfeit. Unfortunately, this is a very real dynamic that brands, like
Gibson
and other iconic brands, need to deal with on a regular basis. The main area of brand protection on these types of issues is with trademark ownership, understanding, and assertion. Hence our recent attempts to communicate our position, which was predominantly focused on these
rogue overseas players
in the market. If left unchecked, these situations can lead to continued consumer confusion and can ultimately
affect the integrity of an entire industry
.
Recently, there has been a wide spectrum of both support and criticism with the approach that has been taken by
Gibson
in the market regarding brand protection. While there are clear lessons to be learned around tone and legal explanations, the past few weeks have provided a ‘real time’ opportunity for
Gibson
to start
making the pivot from less legal leverage to more industry collaboration
, with appropriate levels of awareness.
With regards to other guitar brands and companies in the marketplace,
Gibson
has filed specific lawsuits over the past several years with the intention of
protecting its original
trademark(s) rights and to avoid consumer confusion in the market
. All of the recent attention
on the few lawsuits in process
stem from
several years of legal action initiated well before the new leadership arrived in November of 2018
. With specific regards to the inherited and ongoing legal dynamic with Dean Guitars, the new
Gibson
team have made several attempts to communicate with them directly to avoid a prolonged legal battle
.
Gibson
has
genuine intentions of constructive resolution
that could be beneficial to both sides.
This recent situation has led the team to
re-evaluate their approach going forward
with the intention of
finding more constructive solutions to managing brand protection in the industry
. Over the past few weeks
Gibson
has made
significant progress in
reducing counterfeit ‘attacks’
and they have
entered into creative collaboration agreements with key boutique guitar makers and other related industry parties
.
A clear indication of their intentions going forward.
“I am proud of the progress we have made with our attention to quality, with the launch of the new collections, and with our renewed engagement to our Gibson authorized dealer base. At the same time, we acknowledge there are still legacy challenges to solve going forward, especially around brand protection and market solutions,”
says
James ‘JC’ Curleigh
, the new
President
and
CEO
of
Gibson
.
“It is time to make the modern-day shift from confrontation towards collaboration, whilst still protecting our brands, and we are committed to making this happen starting now”.
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