Martin Guitars, a high-end acoustic guitar manufacturer (seriously, check out this one), began using a unique method of guarding against counterfeit- DNA identification. Martin partnered with Applied DNA Sciences in order to apply a unique Martin DNA symbol to each guitar. The location of the DNA mark is known only to Martin, and of course it would be impossible to replicate the DNA mark itself. Not only is Martin doing with this with their guitars themselves, but their strings as well. Martin is hoping that this will discourage counterfeiters – because now fakes will be so much easier to spot. The Department of Defense is using the same method to prevent counterfeit goods from entering into their supply chain by DNA marking their circuit boards.
This got me thinking (and googling!)…what are some other crazy uses of IP in the guitar world? After all, acoustic guitars have been around for thousands of years, electrics since 1937, and without a certain design to trademark or copyright (like the iconic Fender headstock or Les Paul designs), what forms of IP protection are manufacturers left to? Patents would seem an unlikely answer due to their shorter lifetimes, but there are actually many design patents – here is the original Fender one from 1951. This has been narrowed a bit today – companies commonly seek protection for the pick guard or some other ornamentation that might not be “thick” enough for copyright or trademark protection.
That still leaves some very…interesting patents out there. Here is one for a hollow body guitar to be filled with a colorable liquid. The body of an electric guitar is typically a single piece of material (usually some kind of wood composite). The idea here is that the color the body can be changed at any time by putting differently colored liquids into the body. Of course, we might be leaving the ear of solid guitars behind, as Samsung recently filed an application for an air guitar system, or as they put it a “portable communication device capable of virtually playing musical instruments.” Finally, check out this one, invented by a certain Mr. Edward Van Halen, which shows a very (interesting) method and apparatus for playing a “stringed musical device.” Van Halen might not talk about love, but he sure knows how to talk about patent law.