Famed cereal brand Post is in hot milk over its lawsuit against indie band OK Go for rights to the name.
Post is suing the “Here It Goes Again” performers to stop the band from preventing the corporation from trademarking the name “OK Go!,” claiming that there would be “no confusion” among consumers who would attempt to differentiate between the band and the cereal (which wants to trademark the name with an exclamation point),” according to the lawsuit filed in mid-January and obtained by Page Six.
“The parties’ respective goods and services are clearly unrelated, making confusion virtually impossible,” attorneys for Post write in a letter. “Breakfast cereal and cereal-based snack foods are not related to sound recordings, musical performances, and clothing and other merchandise typically associated with such entertainment services, and consumers are highly unlikely to assume a connection … “
The rock band, however, is arguing that they’ve not only held a trademark for “OK Go” (sans exclamation point) for 15 years but they’ve also collaborated with Post on various brands, including Honey Bunches of Oats.
“As a result of the commercial success that OK Go has achieved in collaborating with
brands across the spectrum of consumer products and services, the OK GO mark has developed enormous good will and is strongly linked with OK Go in the public’s mind,” the band’s lawyers argue in a letter that was submitted as part of the lawsuit.
Post is requesting a judge rule that the company can proceed with its trademark application and receive attorneys’ fees.
“First a big corporation ‘name-jacked’ us then they sue us over it?” the band’s lead singer, Damian Kulash, asks Page Six rhetorically.
A source familiar with the lawsuit tells Page Six that the cereal company’s lawsuit is “such a classic bullying situation.
“It’s a multibillion dollar corporation versus a small indie rock band,” our source shares. “The band has been using OK Go for 25 years. They’re being bullied.”