An interesting trademark infringement case

[Dave W]

http://blogs.wsj.com/law/2008/02/13/the-naked-cowboy-sues-the-naked-mm/

Some of the comments are pretty good.

[Max Soren]

I haven't heard about that one.  But I did recently see that Yoko Ono is suing singer Lennon Murphy for using her own name.  She said it tarnished John Lennon's image or something to that effect.  I hardly think anyone is going to get John Lennon and Lennon Murphy mixed up. 

[Barklessdog]

I agree that they owe the naked cowboy for using his image, but on the other hand it is a parody.

[gweimer]

If it works for Tom Waits, it's good enough for the Naked Cowboy.

[Rhythm N. Bliss]

The dude is desperate. hahaa

Lennon Murphy should tell Yoko Ono to suck a bag of dicks.

[Dave W]

The Yoko story is incorrect. She's not trying to stop Lennon Murphy from using her name (it's her real name anyway). The problem is that Lennon Murphy is attempting to trademark the name Lennon for performance purposes, and Yoko has filed an opposition to the trademark application. I agree with Yoko.

[Dave W]

This just in: it looks like Mars/M&M has caved.    http://blogs.wsj.com/law/2008/02/15/naked-cowboys-lawsuit-drives-mm-outta-dodge/

[Max Soren]

The Yoko story is incorrect. She's not trying to stop Lennon Murphy from using her name (it's her real name anyway). The problem is that Lennon Murphy is attempting to trademark the name Lennon for performance purposes, and Yoko has filed an opposition to the trademark application. I agree with Yoko.

When I posted my comment, that is what the articles were saying.  But they have been corrected in today's news.  I'm not really sure how I feel about it now.  Needless to say, Lennon Murphy is a pretty obscure figure now.  I remember when she first started years ago and was signed by Arista.  Kurt Loder even promoted her enthusiastically on MTV.  But her album didn't sell well and she made some other decisions which were problematic.  She hasn't performed since October 2007, is pretty much a struggling musician now and can't afford to pay an attorney $25,000 to deal with the Yoko situation.  When I first read about this, I was siding with Lennon Murphy.  But now that I've read all the updated details, I'm completely neutral.  But on the Naked Cowboy issue, I always felt he had a case.   

[uwe]

"I agree with Yoko."

Dave ... (shrugging head) ... that way you'll never get an invite to one of Sir Paul's dinner parties. 

[Dave W]

I thought Yoko and Paul were on better terms lately.

[the mojo hobo]

Imagine if Lennon Murphy's last name was McCartney.