Fox seeks to clear Empire show name after trademark threat

Twentieth Century Fox is seeking a declaratory judgment from a US court that its television show Empire does not cause confusion with recording company Empire Distribution.

The film company filed court documents at the US District Court for the Central District of California after Empire Distribution demanded that it stopped using the word ‘Empire’ for its show.

Fox’s request, filed on Monday (March 23), followed a series of cease-and-desist letters sent by Empire Distribution.

Empire Distribution currently has a trademark application for the name of company pending at the US Patent and Trademark Office.

Fox’s Empire show is a television series about a fictional music studio called Empire Enterprises. The studio is run by a drug dealer turned music businessman who suffers from amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.

The show was first broadcast on January 7, 2015. The season finale, on March 18, attracted almost 17 million viewers.

On February 16, Empire Distribution sent a cease-and-desist letter to Fox claiming that the show’s name would cause a likelihood of confusion.

Empire Distribution said that associating its name with a fictional music label run by a “homophobic drug dealer prone to murdering his friends” threatens to “tarnish its brand”.

A second letter sent by Empire Distribution on March 8 listed three options that it said, if agreed to, would prevent further legal action.

Fox could pay $8 million to Empire Distribution to use the name Empire, or it could pay a reduced rate of $5 million to keep the name if artists from Empire Distribution could feature on the show.

The third was for Twentieth Century Fox to stop using the word.

In response, Fox sought the declaratory judgment.

“Faced with defendant’s increasing claims and demands, Twentieth Century Fox commences this action to affirm its rights,” the court document said.

Neither Twentieth Century Fox nor Empire Distribution responded to a request for comment.