What about Guild's 'replicating', except for 'eccentric' horns, the Gibson SG in the form of S-90/100 Polaras or, as it was said somewhere here, Guild knocking off the Gibson J Models and calling them F40s and 50s?
The Gibson - Greco/Tokai/Orville 'Moustache' lawsuits of the 1970s and 1980s were instigated by Gibson after the company, and all of its 'intellectual property' including designs, was acquired by Norlin and because the MIJ knockoffs were having an apparent impact on Gibson's market share. This overlooks the fact that Gibson/Norlin, because of the Norlin deal, had lost many of its key people who left to start up Heritage guitars.
From Norlin's perspective, the 'reason' people weren't buying authentic Norlin/Gibsons was because of the presence of comparatively inexpensive knockoffs. I wasn't chasing Gibbies back then but it's not too hard to imagine that if any of us was considering a Les Paul back then, to conclude 'why should a buy a Gibson when all the talent had left (Gibson stuff is crap - some say it still is) and there are as good / better MIJ dupes around?'. To make the point, there are still late 70s/early 80s Greco 'lawsuit' Les Pauls that still sell for $100 or so less than a 2-year old Les Paul Studio ... don't know about the Greco acoustics but the solid bodies are very well-made guitars!
These days, the manufacturers probably write menacing letters to each other and let it go at that.
