What does the term "lawsuit guitar" really mean?

A note about the "Lawsuit"

It is a common misconception that the famous Gibson/Norlin lawsuit was filed against a number of Japanese companies. It is also commonly said it was over the exact copying of American designs. Neither is true.

The lawsuit was filed by Norlin (Gibson's parent company) against Elger/Hoshino (Ibanez's American division) over the use of the "open book" headstock design which Norlin claimed as a Gibson Trademark. It was not over the exact copying of body dimensions or construction. These guitars were metric!

Don't believe me? Just try putting your Gibson stop-tail posts in one of those "exact" copies! When's the last time you saw a bolt-neck genuine LP Custom? The lawsuit was not "won" by Norlin, but settled out of court. Most of the Japanese companies, as a precautionary move, turned away from those copies but many still offered their "version" of the classic American designs with at least minor departures in design and appearance.

Often I see the term "lawsuit" tossed around rather freely. Most often it is either hype to raise the price of the copy someone trying to sell, or they simply don't know what the "lawsuit" was all about. Too often it really isn't a lawsuit model at all. DON'T FALL VICTIM TO THE HYPE! I see a lot of this in on-line auctions and on-line guitar dealers advertisements.

I have seen guitars go for much more than they are actually worth simply because the purchaser has fallen for the hype or actually didn't know what constitutes a "lawsuit" model. Remember, the best customer is a well informed customer.