Gabbanelli Pwns Copycats
 
In the shadows of music, movie, and software piracy, there existed musical instrument piracy.
Apparently, a legal battle over the “Gabbanelli” accordion trademark has been going on for the last 7 years between Mike Gabbanelli and Elio Gabbanelli (there are other parties involved, but you’ll probably only be interested in Elio).
Elio Gabbanelli has been manufacturing accordions in Castelfidardo, Italy under the Gabbanelli brandname for an unspecified amount of time. Although he carries the family name, he actually has no right to manufacture and brand these accordions with the name because he does not own the patent and/or trademark. Mike owns the patent and/or trademark to the Gabbanelli brandname in the United States of America, Mexico, Canada, Guatemala, Colombia, and Italy.
United States District Judge James B. Zagel ruled in favour of Gabbanelli Accordions & Imports, L.L.C. (Mike), with orders preventing them from promoting, advertising, or selling Gabbanelli accordions. They also cannot present themselves as Gabbanelli representatives to anyone.
Elio & Co. were ordered to fork over roughly $400,000 to Mike & Co.
Check out the legal documentation below for further details of the case.
every body gets what’s coming to them.
JuaquinIII said this on February 21st, 2008 at 8:53 pm
WTF!!!! 4 real?? i bought mine from john g. and my second from mike. i had considered buying an elio after seeing my friends gabby.(gabby= gabbanelli) damn i had no idea they werent the same co. I will stick with mike because he has given me and my family awsome deals in the past like giving me free straps and a second hand case and not charging me taxes because i only had enough for the accordion it self. MIke is good people!, a true musician and master of his craft. i dont have anything to say about elio because ive never dealt with him. but i have seen the craftsmanship on some of his earlier work. nice!
izzy atx said this on February 23rd, 2008 at 11:05 am