One recent matter that has caused quite a stir is the trade mark dispute involving Slough brand Brother who found themselves on the receiving end of a cease and desist letter from an Australian band with the same name.
According to Brother (Slough):
“It’s been going on for ages, even when we were in New York for the first time. When we started our band we Googled the name ‘Brother’ and this Australian band came up – there’s this fucking Celtic band called Brother too. So we knew about it but, honestly, we thought nothing of it because they’re so small. We were just like, ‘That will never be a problem’. But alas, it is.”
As a result Brother (Slough) have now changed their name to the imaginatively titled ‘Viva Brother’.
The lesson from all of this is pretty simple, if you are serious about your career in the music industry then you need to do the appropriate checks on your band name before you get too far down the road.
To quote Michael Coyle of Lawdit in a previous article:
“Alas indeed. If only they did a search through lawyers. £150 would provide guidance and assistance and avoid the hassle of a rebrand.”
It is a common problem in the music industry, artists don’t want to appear to ‘sell out’ or otherwise appear ‘corporate’ by registering trade marks etc for their names however this is only going to be more important and common in the future.
For more information on trade marks check out the IPO and also you can see more in the Lawdit Reading Room.
