Thomann sues Fender to keep the Stratocaster shape free (thomann.de)
Fender's Düsseldorf win came on a procedural default against a Chinese company, not a ruling that anyone owns the Stratocaster outline. Thomann, maker of the Harley Benton brand, is suing to get the shape declared free for the dozens of luthiers who built on it since 1954.
Then the thread reframes the fight: under US law the design went public domain decades ago, and the deeper problem is that Fender sat on its trademark while Gibson locked down the Les Paul body in the 1980s.
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