Machine Heads Dewey Decibel System
By
Frank Meyer,
Contributing Editor
Thursday, January 3, 2002 @ 7:06 PM
Machine Head Win Trademark Law
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According to Blabbermouth.net, Machine Head received a favorable ruling by the United States District Court, Northern District of California, in the band's trademark case against Dewey Global Holding, Inc., a commercial sound design company based in Venice, California that also conducts business under the name Machine Head. In a 26-page decision, the court ruled that the band is entitled to continue to use and maintain its trademark registrations for the name if the bands use does not violate any rights of Dewey Global, who also have registered the web domain name www.machinehead.com.
After Dewey Global filed an action in March of 1999 to cancel the band's trademark registrations and threatened to attempt to stop the band from using the name Machine Head as well as demanding the destruction of all existing merchandise and recordings, the band filed its Declaratory Judgment Action in Federal Court. Dewey Global unsuccessfully argued that, based upon its prior use of the name Machine Head for commercial sound design services ("since 1991"), the band's use of the name Machine Head (since 1992) created a likelihood of consumer confusion. The court disagreed, ruling that no likelihood of confusion existed due to the substantial differences between the goods and services provided by the respective parties. "We peacefully co-existed for seven years, and now Dewey Global claims that — all of a sudden — there's some sort of problem. We've been defending our right to our name and our identity ever since" said Machine Head frontman Robert Flynn. Flynn also stressed that "from the very beginning we were willing to and repeatedly tried to settle this so that we could both continue to co-exist. They didn't want any part of that, so it forced us to spend a ridiculous amount of time, effort and money fighting their meritless case." The band intends to file a Motion with the Court to recover its attorney's fees.
In related news, Machine Head were forced to reschedule the first eight dates of their upcoming Supercharging America tour with Darwin's Waiting Room and 3rd Strik due to a snowboarding accident over the holidays that left Flynn’s wrist badly sprained. The trek now kicks off in Albuquerque, New Mexico on January 20th.
The confirmed dates so far are as follows:
1/20/01 Albuquerque, NM, Sunshine
1/22/01 Lubbock, TX, Pavilion
1/23/01 Dallas, TX, Deep Ellum
1/24/01 Austin, TX, Backroom
1/25/01 Houston, TX, Engine Room
1/26/01 New Orleans, LA, Howlin' Wolf
1/27/01 Tallahassee, FL, Floyd's
1/29/01 Lake Buena Vista, FL, HOB
1/30 – Ft. Lauderdale, FL, Culture Room
1/31/01 Tampa, FL, Masquerade
2/1/01 Atlanta, GA, Masquerade
2/2/01 Atlantic Beach, NC, Ziggy's
2/4/01 State College, PA, Crowbar
2/5/01 Washington D.C., 9:30 Club
2/6/01 Clifton Park, NY, Northern Lights
2/7/01 Philadelphia, PA, Trocadero
2/8/01 New York, NY, Irving Plaza
2/9/01 Worcester, MA, Palladium
2/12/01 Cincinnati, OH, Bogart's
2/13/01 Cleveland, OH, Odeon
2/14/01 Columbus, OH, Al Rosa Villa
2/15/01 Detroit, MI, Harpo's
2/16/01 Chicago, IL, The Vic
2/17/01 Madison, WI, Barrymore
2/19/01 St Louis, MO, Mississippi Nites
2/20/01 Lawrence, KS, Bottleneck
2/22/01 Minneapolis, MN, Quest
2/23/01 Omaha, NE, Ranch Bowl
2/24/01 Wichita, KS, Little Uptown
2/26/01 Denver, CO, Ogden
2/27/01 Salt Lake City, UT, Dv8
3//01 San Francisco, CA, Fillmore
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