Van Halen settles lawsuit with ex-wife of member
US rock band Van Halen has settled a lawsuit with the ex-wife of one of its members after she used the band’s name for her company.
Last year drummer Alex Van Halen and his brother Eddie took legal action against Kelly Van Halen, from whom Alex divorced in 1996, after they discovered she was using her married name for an interior design company that she owns.
In their lawsuit, filed in October 2013 at the US District Court for the Central District of California, the band members claimed that her trademark applications for ‘Kelly Van Halen’ would cause confusion with the ‘Van Halen’ registrations.
In the complaint, ELVH, which manages the intellectual property of the rock band, claimed that the trademark applications were confusingly similar to the ‘Van Halen’ marks and that she was diluting them, passing off as the band, and committing unfair competition against Van Halen.
But last week, attorneys for both parties agreed that the lawsuit should be dismissed. As part of the settlement Kelly Van Halen can use her full name for her business but she has agreed not to get involved in any music-related services that may cause confusion with the band.
After divorcing from Alex, Kelly Van Halen named her construction and interior design company after herself. She attempted to register trademarks for products including chairs, children's blankets, bathing suits, building construction, interior design services, and more.
According to the US Patent and Trademark Office’s trademark searching system there is a current trademark for the term ‘KVH’, which is owned by Kelly Van Halen and covers goods including blouses and coats.
Already registered?
Login to your account
If you don't have a login or your access has expired, you will need to purchase a subscription to gain access to this article, including all our online content.
For more information on individual annual subscriptions for full paid access and corporate subscription options please contact us.
To request a FREE 2-week trial subscription, please signup.
NOTE - this can take up to 48hrs to be approved.
For multi-user price options, or to check if your company has an existing subscription that we can add you to for FREE, please email Adrian Tapping at atapping@newtonmedia.co.uk