Could Fender's earlier trademark loss limit what it can argue in a new case over the Stratocaster body shape?

The BKK Beat is a video series from the attorneys at Bean, Kinney & Korman, bringing viewers an inside look at news narratives through BKK's legal lens.

In Episode 31, Kandis Koustenis and Tim Hughes continue their Fender Stratocaster series by asking what may happen if Fender's renewed enforcement campaign moves from cease-and-desist letters into contested litigation. They discuss PRS and its Silver Sky as a potential test case for Fender's current claims.

The conversation focuses on procedural hurdles created by earlier proceedings. Kandis and Tim examine Fender's prior effort before the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board (TTAB), the difference between an administrative tribunal and an Article III federal court, and the doctrines of issue preclusion and claim preclusion.

They also consider when a TTAB decision may affect later federal litigation, prior guitar-shape litigation involving PRS, whether new marketplace evidence developed since the earlier proceedings could change the analysis, and the continuing importance of functionality and consumer confusion.

This is Part 4 of the series.