Bigsby & Gretsch to Exhibit at USPTO Trademark Expo

Congressional Record–USPTO Trademark Expo 2011

Update:  Congressional Record Published Honoring USPTO Trademark Expo

Note: The Congressional Record is published by the United States Government Printing Office and is issued daily when the United States Congress is in session.

Update:  Special Musical Performance

A special musical performance took place at the Bigsby/Gretsch booth on Friday and Saturday.  Read more here.

The Bigsby Division of the Gretsch Company will once again be exhibiting at the National Trademark Expo presented by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). The 2011 Expo will take place on Friday, October 14, and Saturday, October 15, at the USPTO’s headquarters in Alexandria, Virginia at 600 Dulany Street and admission is free. The two-day event is designed to educate the public about the value of trademarks in the global marketplace.

Last year’s Expo attracted over 10,000 visitors of all ages. This year’s Expo will highlight such themes as “Unusual Trademarks” and “Brand Evolution,” and will feature educational workshops for adults and children, exhibits of authentic and counterfeit goods, and costumed characters.

Over one hundred companies applied to exhibit at the Expo yet Bigsby was one of only 27 companies who were eventually selected. The distinctive trademarked shape of Bigsby’s famous vibrato tailpieces will be in good company, however, with other internationally-familiar trademarks belonging to other such notable exhibitors as Mattel Inc., Segway Inc., The U.S. Department of the Army, Bridgestone Corporation, Caterpillar Inc, Geico, and The Hershey Company.

Gretsch guitars have featured Bigsby vibrato tailpieces for more than fifty years.  The Bigsby/Gretsch display at the USPTO Expo will include information on the company’s history, including the fact that Gretsch owns a registration for the configuration of a Bigsby-design guitar, as well as for the surname Bigsby. The display will also demonstrate the importance of Bigsby trademarks and the impact they have as source identifiers in the marketplace. Like most effective trademarks, the very shape of Bigsby tailpieces identifies them—even at a distance, when the brand name cannot be read. This allows Bigsby-equipped guitars to be recognized on concert stages and video broadcasts.

The inherent distinctiveness of the Bigsby tailpiece design has aided the Gretsch Company in getting the protectable portions registered. This, in turn, has helped Gretsch to pursue its campaign (as part of the Electric Guitar Anti-Counterfeiting Coalition) to stem the proliferation of counterfeit instruments wherever they are manufactured.

Authentic Bigsby Vibrato Alongside Look-alike on Permanent Display at USPTO

The worldwide proliferation of counterfeit instruments underscores the importance of strong trademark protection, along with the impact of creative and recognizable trademark designs. One of the fundamental purposes of the USPTO Expo is to highlight these issues and the displays from Bigsby and the other participants shall all be designed to serve that goal.

For more information on the Expo, go to www.uspto.gov.

For more information on Bigsby products and the Gretsch/Bigsby connection, go to www.bigsby.com.