Dean parent company must pay Gibson $4 million in legal fees after trademark loss
Dean’s parent company Armadillo has been ordered to pay over $4 million of Gibson’s legal fees, after its loss in the dispute over infringing body shapes.
READ MORE: Gibson denied opportunity to appeal court ruling that its ES body shape is generic – but the final terms of its legal victory over Dean have been laid down
Earlier this year, the final result of the retrial between Gibson and Armadillo was declared. The second jury broadly agreed with the first, finding that Armadillo had infringed on a number of Gibson’s body shapes, and that Gibson was overall the prevailing party. However, it was not a total victory for Gibson, as its ES shape was ruled to be generic.
But, despite that one trademark decision, the rest of the ruling was still very much levelled at Dean and Armadillo. This march ruling declared that Armadillo must foot a $170,000 bill for at least some of Gibson’s legal fees, with the judge further stating that “all costs of court spent or incurred in this cause are adjudged against Armadillo”. This figure was unclear at the time, but following recent filings from Gibson, it has now been calculated as a total of $4,046,444.05: $235,417.92 in litigation costs, and $3,811,026.13 in attorney’s fees. Armadillo has until next Friday (9 October) to pay.
The $4 million payout comes just months after Armadillo declared bankruptcy, something the current company leader Pamela Keris-Rubinson blamed on extensive alleged fraud by her son, former CEO and president of Armadillo Evan Rubinson. In a bankruptcy filing made in June, Pamela Keris-Rubinson alleged that Evan’s appointment as company leader (following the death of CEO Elliott Rubinson) saw a previously successful Armadillo Enterprises start to decline severely. The rest of the bankruptcy filing revealed that Armadillo holds assets within the range of $1 million and $10 million – but owes $50 million in liabilities.
This fraught financial position wasn’t helped by the initial result from its spar with Gibson – even before the retrial, Dean was ordered to stop selling some of its most popular designs back in 2022. The disruption to the business was somewhat felt by customers – sharper, non-infringing Vengeance models were announced in 2021, but would not make it into stores for another two years. Dean has also recently entered into a legal conflict with the estate of Dimebag Darrell, who have also launched a new guitar brand in collaboration with Dean’s namesake, Dean Zelinsky.
Overall the recent filing is, of course, not good news for an already embattled Dean and Armadillo. Given the disparity between the company’s assets and its liabilities, an order to pay another $4 million in legal fees makes its future even more uncertain.
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Source: www.guitar-bass.net
