Fender And Thomann Clash In Strat Legal Challenge

The fallout from Fender's recent actions continues. Just to recap - incoming Fender CEO Bud Cole, has instigated  threatening of legal action to manufacturers and retailers in the EU and US involved in the sales of s-type (Stratocaster) guitars, telling them to stop and destroy existing stock or face the consequences. This is based on a default judgment from the Düsseldorf Regional Court against Yiwu Philharmonic Musical Instruments Co, a Chinese seller shipping near-identical copies via AliExpress. Yiwu never showed up to contest it. The court reclassified the Strat body as "a copyrighted work of applied art" which Fender used as a cue to start their processes.

This week Thomann,  the world's largest music retailer (rather ironically were founded the same year that the Strat was released in1954),  have taken Fender to court to challenge its attempt to claim copyright over the Stratocaster body shape - the first company to go on the offensive after Fender's moves. This means that Fender will now have to go through a process of discovery and then make representations in court to justify their actions. 

Worth remembering why Fender's claim is potentially unsound: Fender already tried to lock down these shapes and lost. In 2009 the US Trademark Trial and Appeal Board ruled the Stratocaster, Telecaster and Precision Bass bodies had become "generic" instrument designs after decades of open use essentially making them public domain.

The new tactic swaps trademark for copyright - and leans on that German judgment won by default against an absent defendant, which is the weakness Thomann is now testing in court. In a sort of climbdown,  CEO Edward "Bud" Cole told dealers in mid-June that "Fender is not suing anybody", framing the letters as outreach to a handful of businesses. That hasn't stopped the fallout - several prominent YouTubers have publicly cut ties with the brand which is now experiencing a wave of ick.

Its hard to recollect a more damaging action by a major brand - UK readers may remember Gerald Ratners' - (UK high street jewelers) infamous 1991 speech where he (albeit jokingly) said their products "total crap" - the company tanked losing 500million in value. 

This is on a much bigger scale, being a global brand.

• On June 22, 2026, Thomann filed suit against Fender, asking a court to rule that using the S-style body shape does not infringe copyright. Thomann's own brand Harley Benton was among the recipients of Fender's letters.
• Since May, Fender - working through law firm Bird & Bird - has used that ruling to demand builders and retailers across the EU and US halt production and sales, recall guitars already sold into the EU, destroy unsold stock, and hand over customer and sales data.
• Confirmed recipients so far: LsL Instruments (told to stop building its Saticoy), PRS Guitars  and Harley Benton. 
• Thomann's legal argument is "form follows function" - that the S-style shape is functional, not purely artistic, citing the double cutaway for upper-fret access and body balance. Functionality is a long-standing defense against design protection.
• Thomann named Tyler, Tom Anderson, Suhr, LsL, Maybach, Pensa, FGN and PRS as makers it believes are now at risk, and framed the suit as acting for the whole industry, not just itself.

The stakes are straightforward. If Fender did establish an enforceable copyright over the Strat shape, the Tele and P-Bass are the obvious next candidates, S-type and T-type prices rise as competition thins, and the boutique builder community - already on thin margins - takes the hardest hit.  Given the precedent does seem somewhat unlikely and if they don't win, an already damaged brand will have some serious work to do to rebuild the trust.

Thomann are not just doing it for the people of course, they sell a lot of affected product and will have stock, and make their own brand S and T type guitars too.
However, Fender has a lot of goodwill to lose across other brands: Squier, Jackson Charvel, Gretsch, EVH, Presonus.

There's a good video by Rhett Shull on the subject here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OdmqoGuXisM 

Thomann's statement:
https://www.thomann.de/blog/en/inside/thomann-takes-legal-action-against-fender/

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