Generic Guitars

Gibson, Inc. v. Armadillo Distribution Enterprises, Inc. presented a trademark dispute about the iconic “Flyng V” electric guitar; the appellate issue was the admissibility of evidence about third-party use before 1992–five years before the relevant party acquired the rights to the relevant marks. The Fifth Circuit held that the district court’s time limit wasn’t justified by Fed. R. Evid. 403 or the applicable trademark law, concluding that it was potentially probative as to whether the mark was “generic” and thus deserving of any protection under trademark law. No. 22-40587 (revised August 8, 2024) (applying Converse v. Int’l Trade Comm’n, 909 F.3d 1110 (Fed Cir. 2018)).