We know that you’ve all been Up All Night waiting with bated breath for news regarding UK heartthrobs One Direction and their battle with their US namesakes over rights to the “One Direction” trade mark (see our earlier post here). Interests associated with the UK group have recently filed a counterclaim in response, alleging that their name was Taken by the Californian five piece. The counterclaim effectively points the finger back at the US group, saying that it’s Gotta Be You who is the infringer.
Unsurprisingly, given the demographic involved, Facebook posts play a key role in attempts to establish that the US group was aware of the UK group before they began to use the trade mark in commerce in the USA. The UK group has said I Want punitive damages, by reason of the “fraud, oppression or malice” on the part of the US group.
Rolling Stone quotes a representative of the UK group as saying that “Despite One Direction’s management’s attempts to resolve the situation amicably, the Californian group are continuing with their lawsuit claiming that they own the name in the US… One Direction’s lawyers have now had to file an Answer and Counterclaim in order to defend and assert the band’s right to use their name. The Answer and Counterclaim makes it clear that it is One Direction who have prior rights to the name in the U.S. as it was One Direction who used the name in interstate commerce in the US first.” It seems that the groups are saying I hate Everything About You to one another.
One Thing further: it will be interesting to see whether other bands continue to make the Same Mistakes of falling foul of Simon Cowell and his empire in the future. Indeed, the US band may end up singing I Wish we’d never filed our suit on the first place and I Want it all to go away. We’ll keep you updated on anything we learn that contains More than This post…
