Final 12 months, Neil Young started to play shows with a brand new backing band that he known 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 Trees. Now, Younger and his bandmates are being sued by the Los Angeles style model Chrome Hearts for trademark infringement.
Chrome Hearts LLC filed its grievance in a California federal courtroom 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 logos comprising the CHROME HEARTS mark and design elements,” relationship 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 more likely to trigger confusion with Chrome Hearts’ numerous Chrome Hearts Marks.”
“The probability of confusion shouldn’t be 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 t-shirts that prominently show Mr. Younger’s title together with Chrome Hearts’s iconic stylization of the CHROME HEARTS® mark.”
In response to the grievance, Chrome Hearts notified Younger’s crew in July in regards to the alleged trademark infringement, however the band continued to tour underneath the banner and promote merchandise. By means of the lawsuit, Chrome Hearts is now requesting that Neil Younger and the Chrome Hearts cease utilizing the title.
Pitchfork has reached out to representatives for Neil Younger and the Chrome Hearts and attorneys for Chrome Hearts LLC for remark.
