They finally caved

[Alanko]

Surprisingly scummy move by RIC. 

[dadagoboi]

Not surprised in the least.

A trademark application was $75 last time I checked. If Pistorio was in it for anything but fun he should have investigated the possibilities, especially before making expensive capital investment - and considering the Rick connection. 

A 3D printer would make quick work of producing those things. Tech marches on.

[gearHed289]

Raise your hand of you got a Fender style bass, not by Fender:)

  I've got in my lap right now a Guild Pilot 5 string, which I guess is a "Super J".

[Dave W]

Not surprised in the least.

A trademark application was $75 last time I checked. If Pistorio was in it for anything but fun he should have investigated the possibilities, especially before making expensive capital investment - and considering the Rick connection. 

A 3D printer would make quick work of producing those things. Tech marches on.

What would he do if he got a trademark? My understanding is that it takes 250K to 1 million to see a trademark case all the way through the federal courts. All RIC would have to do is ignore it. Either that or challenge the validity of it.

[Basvarken]

Exactly. A trademark of 75 Dollar/Euro won't give you any guarantee your product won't be plagiarized.
If you want to make sure your product is safe, you'll have to buy copyrights worldwide. That is very costly. And still will not give you any guarantee the Asians will not copy your product anyway. You are going to have to hire a lot of legal assistance to monitor it AND have them fight for you when there is an infringement.
The little man is always screwed.

[dadagoboi]

Nevermind.