A cafe located in Sheperdstown, West Virginia is claiming trademark infringement on the new Marley drink/tea and wants the Marleys to find another name. While the Marleys say it is the cafe who must find another name because they had the name first.
The Marleys where in the process of trademarking the drink/tea Marley's Mellow Mood when they were hit with a snag, because the trademark "Mellow Moods" was said to belong to Mellow Moods Cafe and Juice Bar in Sheperdstown, West Virginia.
"They didn't do their research before they decided to release this product and did not see that we already owned the trademark to "Mellow Moods," says Philip Mastrangelo, owner of Mellow Moods Cafe. Therefore,
The Marleys have officially filed to have Mellow Moods' trademark revoked, sighting they had the name first.
"Were not going to give up our name," says Mastrangelo, "We are not going to allow them to just bully us because they have money and we are going to fight for what we have created."
Truth is, Bob Marley recorded a Mellow Mood album and track in his early career and with Bob Marley's iconic stature and a living family who owns the right to his catalogue, it is difficult for this cafe to claim rights to "Mellow Mood". On the flip side actually, we could say they're the ones who "didn't do their research before they decided to release this product".
The appeal by Marley's family to revoke Mellow Moods trademark is currently being review by the United State's Patient and Trademark Office.
Bob Marley wasn't in the drink business. He was in the music business. And just like hundreds of other people, organizations, and even musicians have used the phrase "Mellow Mood(s)", this little juice bar in WV has the right to do so too because they are not using Bob Marley's name, image, or likeness to promote their product. Or for that matter, they are not using Ella Fitzgerald, Oscar Peterson, Slightly Stoopid, The Temptations, or any other group that has historically tried to describe the classic feeling of a mellow mood. There really are lots of people and companies wrongfully using Bob's legacy to gain....but this place isn't doing it. It's just easier for the Marley attorneys to try and frame them as being one of these infringement perpetrators than it is for them to admit that they made a serious technical oversight and take responsibility for their actions. I seriously doubt that Bob Marley would stand for this.
ReplyDeleteYou are 100% wrong. Cafe brought this upon themselves by going after Marleys. They should both be able to freely use the terms "mellow mood(s)" to describe their businesses/products as they are not directly or indirectly competing businesses.
ReplyDelete