Neil Younger’s backing band has been hit with a lawsuit by a luxurious trend model.
Neil Younger and The Chrome Hearts are locked in a trademark struggle with a high-profile trend model
The folks-rock icon and The Chrome Hearts are being sued by the model of the identical title in a trademark infringement case.
The lawsuit, filed in California federal court docket, accuses Younger and his bandmates – Micah Nelson, Corey McCormick, Anthony Logerfo, and Spooner Oldham – of unlawfully utilizing the Chrome Hearts title, a moniker lengthy related to high-end jewelry, attire, and equipment worn by everybody from Rihanna to Timothée Chalamet. Additionally named within the swimsuit is Younger’s manufacturing firm, The Different Shoe Productions.
In keeping with the grievance seen by Rolling Stone, Chrome Hearts claims it by no means granted Younger or his workforce permission to make use of its trademarked title and alleges that the band’s use of “Neil Younger and the Chrome Hearts” (NYTCH) is a deliberate try and “exploit Chrome Hearts’ popularity out there”. The model is now looking for an injunction to cease Younger from utilizing the title altogether, with damages but to be specified.
Whereas Younger’s merchandise reportedly avoids copying Chrome Hearts’ stylised logos, the model argues that confusion is already taking root. Third-party distributors have allegedly begun advertising NYTCH gear as if it had been a part of an official collaboration, blurring the strains between the rock outfit and the posh label.
The authorized drama comes simply months after Younger and The Chrome Hearts launched their debut album Talkin to the Timber and launched into a world tour that included headline slots at Glastonbury and BST Hyde Park. The band’s title was reportedly impressed by a lyric from Younger’s 1976 monitor Lengthy Could You Run.
Chrome Hearts says it first raised issues with Younger’s workforce again in July, however the band continued to carry out and promote merchandise below the disputed title. The model argues that its long-standing presence in each trend and music – having collaborated with artists like Madonna, Drake, and The Rolling Stones – makes the overlap with Younger’s band title particularly problematic.
As of but, Younger has but to publicly reply to the lawsuit.
