Final 12 months, Neil Younger started to play exhibits with a brand new backing band that he referred to as the Chrome Hearts. Then, in June, Neil Younger and the Chrome Hearts—that includes Younger, Micah Nelson, Corey McCormick, Anthony Logerfo, and Spooner Oldham—launched their debut album, Talkin to the Timber. Now, Younger and his bandmates are being sued by the Los Angeles vogue model Chrome Hearts for trademark infringement.
Chrome Hearts LLC filed its grievance in a California federal court docket on Thursday, September 11. The lawsuit was first reported by Billboard.
Within the grievance, obtained by Pitchfork, attorneys for Chrome Hearts define the model’s possession “of the CHROME HEARTS® phrase mark, and composite emblems comprising the CHROME HEARTS mark and design elements,” courting again to 1991.
They argue that Younger and his bandmates are infringing upon the model’s trademark by promoting “Neil Younger and the Chrome Hearts” (NYTCH) merchandise that “incorporates the precise CHROME HEARTS® phrase mark and is thus prone to trigger confusion with Chrome Hearts’ numerous Chrome Hearts Marks.”
“The probability of confusion just isn’t merely hypothetical. Some clothes and attire distributors have apparently already mistakenly assumed that there’s a connection between NYTCH and Chrome Hearts, and are actively selling that purported connection,” they declare. “For instance, some distributors have began advertising and marketing t-shirts that prominently show Mr. Younger’s identify together with Chrome Hearts’s iconic stylization of the CHROME HEARTS® mark.”
In keeping with the grievance, Chrome Hearts notified Younger’s crew in July in regards to the alleged trademark infringement, however the band continued to tour beneath the banner and promote merchandise. By the lawsuit, Chrome Hearts is now requesting that Neil Younger and the Chrome Hearts cease utilizing the identify.
Pitchfork has reached out to representatives for Neil Younger and the Chrome Hearts and attorneys for Chrome Hearts LLC for remark.
