What is a Japanese “Lawsuit”/”Lawsuit Era” Guitar

You will often see the terms “Lawsuit Guitar” and “Lawsuit Era” guitar in advertisements for 1970s/80s/90s Japanese instruments. Unsure of the precise meaning of these terms (and if they meant the same thing” IMAGMusic has been doing a bit of reading and this is the subject of our latest IMAGMusings blog….

Background

In the mid-1970s, Japanese guitar makers — Ibanez among them — were producing instruments that closely resembled popular American models, including those made by Gibson and Fender. These copies were visually similar and very affordable, and significantly they sold well in the U.S.A.

In June 1977, Norlin Corporation (Gibson’s parent company at the time) filed a lawsuit in the U.S. federal court (Philadelphia) against Elger Co., which was the U.S. distributor of Ibanez guitars (Hoshino Gakki’s American arm). The case was known as Gibson vs. Elger Co.

The main legal issue was trademark infringement — particularly the use of a headstock shape on some Ibanez guitars that was very similar to Gibson’s distinctive “open-book” headstock design, which Gibson claimed was its trademark.

There was therefore only ever ONE lawsuit, and it was specific to Gibson style guitars and was made against Ibanez.

Outcome of the Lawsuit

The case was settled out of court, Ibanez agreed to stop using the Gibson-style headstock designs and to stop using model names that were closely associated with Gibson’s products.

In fact, by the time the lawsuit was filed, Ibanez had already begun redesigning its headstocks to avoid the disputed look and shifted its focus more toward original designs, no longer producing such close copies of Gibson guitars.

Lawsuit Guitars

Because of this legal action, vintage Japanese Ibanez guitars from this period — those with body shapes and headstocks similar to Gibson’s — are referred to as “lawsuit guitars” by collectors. The most important examples are the Ibanez 2300 series guitars made from the early to mid-1970s. It’s important to note:

· There was technically one lawsuit against Ibanez, not dozens of separate cases against multiple companies.

· The legal action targeted the headstock design, not exact body dimensions or detailed construction.

· After the lawsuit, Japanese makers including Ibanez moved toward original and innovative designs, such as the Ibanez Iceman (as used by Paul Stanley of Kiss) and later the JEM series.

Lawsuit Era Guitars

However, in the late 1970s many other Japanese manufacturers made high quality copies of US brands e.g.:

• Greco
• Tokai
• Burny
• Aria
• Electra
• Fernandes

The photograph used to illustrate this blog shows a CMI "Les Paul Custom" a perfect example of such a guitar. These companies all built guitars that looked very similar to Gibson models. Sellers often assume, it’s Japanese it’s from the 70s.80s, it looks like a Gibson copy therefore it must be a “lawsuit guitar”. This term is also occasionally applied to Fender style guitars even though they were never involved in a lawsuit. These guitars would be more accurately described as “lawsuit era” guitars. This is just a marketing term: the word lawsuit is thought to give an air of rarity, controversy and quality (i.e. it is such good copy that they got sued).

Summary:

In 1977 Gibson (through Norlin) sued Ibanez’s U.S. distributor over trademark infringement tied to Ibanez guitars that used a headstock very similar to Gibson’s iconic “open book” design. The case was settled out of court. After the case Ibanez changed its designs and names. The legal battle helped push the company toward original models — shaping its future and contributing to the lore of “lawsuit guitars” in vintage guitar culture.