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22 September 2016Trademarks

Elvis fan all shook up after losing trademark dispute

The owner of a museum in Denmark modelled after Elvis Presley’s Graceland Mansion, the former home of the music legend, has lost a trademark dispute against a US company.

Henrik Knudsen, the owner of the Randers-based museum, was ordered to pay kr500,000 ($75,000) to GL SPE, based in Memphis, Tennessee, after using the name Graceland.

The Maritime and Commercial High Court in Copenhagen issued the decision yesterday, September 21.

The museum, formerly known as Graceland Randers, consists of an Elvis museum, a restaurant and a souvenir shop.

Knudsen has since changed the name of the museum, which was founded in 2011, to Memphis Mansion as part of a settlement agreement.

GL SPE owns a European Union trademark for ‘Graceland’. The rights were previously transferred from Elvis Presley Enterprises.

In 2007, Knudsen was granted a trademark registration for ‘Graceland’ in class 41, covering a museum business.

The trademark was revoked in 2012 after Elvis Presley Enterprises raised an objection. Knudsen appealed against the decision but it was later upheld.

Knudsen had also registered ‘Graceland Randers’ as a trademark in classes 16, 35, 41 and 43, but this was also opposed by Elvis Presley Enterprises and revoked.

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