Heritage Guitars takes Gibson to court over trademark issues

KALAMAZOO, MI — Heritage Guitar Inc. stepped in front of possible pending litigation by filing a defensive lawsuit against Gibson Brands Inc., who they say is threatening legal action over perceived trademark infringement.

The Kalamazoo-based guitar company was formed in 1985 by former Gibson employees after Gibson closed its historic factory at 225 Parsons St. in Kalamazoo and moved to Nashville, Tennessee.

The company alleges in its complaint that Gibson has explicitly threatened to sue Heritage “presumably because of a prior unfavorable trademark decision by the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit.”

The lawsuit was filed Friday, March 13, in U.S. District Court for the Western District of Michigan.

“Heritage brings this action to resolve the cloud of fear, uncertainty and doubt that Gibson and (its parent company) KKR (Kolberg, Kravis & Roberts) seek to cast over Heritage’s business by these ill-conceived threats,” the complaint states.

The companies, according to a statement issued on Heritage’s Instagram page have an “undeniably intertwined” history, that got off to a rocky start when Heritage was formed at the former Gibson site.

Friday’s complaint against Gibson, the statement reads, was filed “in response to an ongoing and excessive campaign of harassment by the Gibson team since it came under new ownership” specifically over the look and design of more than a half dozen single-cut and double-cut guitars.

Source:  https://www.mlive.com/news/kalamazoo/2020/03/heritage-guitars-takes-gibson-to-court-over-trademark-issues.html