Fender recently made headlines when they served cease-and-desists to multiple U.S.-based guitar companies demanding they stop manufacturing and selling Strat-style instruments. The legal activities have now ramped up significantly, as Fender has issued a cease-and-desist letter to PRS, likely over their PRS Silver Sky model designed for (and with) John Mayer.
According to PRS via a statement issued to Guitar World, they “are aware and investigating. No further comment at this time.” Another brief statement was issued to the Wall Street Journal, saying in part that PRS “disagrees with Fender’s assessment and declined to comment further.”
This is all especially wild, considering PRS originally rolled out the Silver Sky in 2018. Meaning that Mayer left Fender in 2014, did his own thing in 2018 with PRS and the extensive line of Silver Sky guitars, and now eight years later all of a sudden Fender is coming after them,. This also feels like a bad move considering the Internet is none too pleased with Fender’s overall actions. So sure, you win these lawsuits, but at what cost to reputation.
The first company to publicly confirm receiving one of those letters is LsL Instruments, a small family-run builder known for vintage-inspired S-style guitars. According to the company, Fender’s legal action stems from a recent German court ruling that recognized the Stratocaster body shape as a protected “work of applied art” under German and European law.
That ruling came after Fender won a case in the Regional Court of Dusseldorf against a Chinese manufacturer accused of producing Strat-style guitars for sale through AliExpress into the European market. Fender described the outcome as a major legal precedent that strengthens its ability to protect the Stratocaster design internationally.
The cease-and-desist letters reportedly demand that builders halt production and marketing of allegedly infringing models. According to McKnight, some versions of the letters also call for companies to recall guitars sold into the EU and destroy remaining inventory.
LsL Instruments has since launched a fundraising campaign claiming the legal costs required to defend itself against Fender could threaten the company’s survival. In its statement, LsL argues that Leo Fender himself never secured copyright protection over the Stratocaster body design and says the broader implications of the ruling could affect countless independent builders and musicians.
Fender has not yet commented on the situation.
