Paper Jamz
 | |
| Type | Musical toy |
|---|---|
| Company | WowWee |
| Country | China |
| Availability | 2010–unknown (likely discontinued) |
| Official website | |
Paper Jamz was a collection of musical toys, produced by WowWee. Introduced in 2010, Paper Jamz were paper-thin musical toys, which included guitars, microphones, keytars, drum kits, and amplifiers. They were also marketed as "Instant Rock Star" instruments.
Description
There were no physical buttons, knobs or keys used while playing the instruments. Instead, the battery-operated instruments featured a printed, touch-and-gesture enabled surface. The toy company produced Justin Bieber themed guitars in 2011.[1]
Lawsuit
Gibson Guitar Corporation filed a lawsuit November 18. 2010 in Federal court, the Central District of California, against WowWee USA and their Paper Jamz guitars, alleging trademark infringement.[2][3] The lawsuit claimed that the Paper Jamz guitars copied the looks of some of Gibson's famous guitars, the Gibson Les Paul, the Gibson Flying V, the Gibson Explorer, and the Gibson SG. On December 21, 2010 Gibson was granted a request for an injunction against WowWee and retailers in the United States which were selling Paper Jamz guitars: Walmart, Amazon, Big Lots stores, Kmart Corporation, Target Corporation, Toys "R" Us, Walgreens, Brookstone, Best Buy, eBay, Toywiz.com, and Home Shopping Network (HSN).[4][5][6]
The case was dismissed with prejudice January 11, 2011 by Federal Judge R. Gary Klausner.[7][8] According to Gibson CEO, Henry Juszkiewicz, WowWee later paid Gibson an undisclosed amount of money to license the likeness of Gibson guitars.[9]
Paper Jamz products continued manufacture into 2011 and then seem to have ceased production.
References
- ^ Ulanoff, Lance. "Just N BeaverGets Last Laugh with Paper Jamz Keyboard Guitar". PC Magazine. Retrieved September 16, 2011.
- ^ "Gibson Sues Over Paper Jamz". Guitar News Daily, November 25, 2010. 25 November 2010. Retrieved February 1, 2018.
- ^ Hachman, Mark. "Gibson Sues WowWee over Paper Jamz Guitars". PC Magazine, November 27, 2010. Retrieved February 2, 2018.
- ^ "Gibson Granted Injunction Against Paper Jamz Guitars". Premier Guitar, December 22, 2010. Retrieved February 2, 2018.
- ^ Hasselback, Drew. "Gibson obtains injunction against WowWee's Paper Jamz guitars". Financial Post, December 23, 2010. Retrieved February 2, 2018.
- ^ Biggs, John (28 December 2010). "Gibson Forces WowWee to Pull Paper Jamz Guitars". TechCrunch, December 28, 2010. Retrieved February 2, 2018.
- ^ Gibson Guitar Corp. v. WowWee USA, Inc. et al (Central District of California 2011) ("That this action is dismissed with prejudice without costs or attorneys fees; That the funds deposited by plaintiff to secure the preliminary injunction be returned to plaintiff."), Text.
- ^ Roberts, Katie. "Wowwee/Gibson Guitars dispute settled". ToyNews, January 7, 2011. Retrieved February 2, 2018.
- ^ "Gibson Responds to WowWee Settlement Article". MMR. 2011-01-12. Archived from the original on 2011-07-14. Retrieved 2011-02-09.