The bigger you are, the bigger the target on your back. Jelly Roll is finding this out. He's a huge star now, but apparently there is another musical act that's been around since the 80s - and have had the name "Jellyroll" trademarked since 2010. Jellyroll, who bills themselves as "Philly's Favorite Wedding Band," has filed suit to stop Jelly Roll (real name: Jason De Ford) from using the name professionally.
Kurt L. Titchenell, a founding member of Jellyroll, "seeks injunctive relief" against defendant De Ford for service mark infringement, according to court documents. Titchenell’s band most recently renewed the trademark in 2019. The suit alleges that by Jelly Roll using the name, it has damaged the band’s ability to get their name out, causing "confusion in the marketplace."
According to the suit, "Prior to the Defendant’s recent rise in notoriety, a search of the name of Jellyroll on most search engines, and particularly Google, returned references to the Plaintiff. Now, any such search on Google returns multiple references to Defendant, perhaps as many as 18-20 references before any reference to Plaintiff’s entertainment dance band known as Jellyroll® can be found." Jelly Roll the country singer has said that his mother gave him the nickname as a child, long before his career began. He did not begin using the name as a performer until around 2010, the same time that Jellyroll initially obtained the trademark.
The band Jellyroll’s biggest gig came in 2007 when President George W. Bush’s daughters saw them play and they earned an invitation to play at the White House. Former first lady Laura Bush later asked the band to play at her 44th high school reunion. As far as the lawsuit is concerned, no comment from Jelly Roll the country singer.
Source: Yahoo