Gospel Show Guy Sues High School Over Decade Old Singing Competition Called 'Singsation'

from the trademark-blues dept

In our "why is this happening" trademark story of the day, we have a guy who runs a gospel music show in Chicago filing a trademark infringement suit against a high school in Omaha, Nebraska. Dr. Willie Wilson has a registered trademark for his gospel music show, called "Singsation", which bills itself as a television program that brings "good news and foot stomping music to viewers all over the world." It's been on the air since 1989. Meanwhile, halfway across the country in Omaha, Millard West High School hosts its annual choir contest, called "Singsation", which first started a decade ago and is attended by over 1,000 performers. And, despite a decade's worth of peaceful co-existence, Dr. Wilson has decided to bring the wrath of the trademark gods down upon this school over the term "Singsation."

Lawyers for Willie Wilson of Chicago filed a trademark infringement lawsuit Dec. 3 in U.S. District Court in Nebraska. Wilson said that since 1989 he has produced a gospel music TV show called “Singsation” and owns the brand name. Wilson is seeking a permanent injunction against Millard, which has used the name for at least nine years.

People asserting that a trademark means they "own the brand name" is, unfortunately, too common. The actual fact is that the trademark restricts the use of the brand name within specific markets and where customer confusion can be reasonably predicted to occur. The idea that anyone is mistaking a high school choir contest for a long-running Gospel television show is an idea that shouldn't occur to anyone, ever. There's no confusion here and I'd argue that there is no market overlap, either. But the filing alleges specifically that the school is trying to associate its contest with Dr. Wilson's show. That's ludicrous, something that Millard officials tried to explain to Wilson's lawyers.

Duncan Young, attorney for the Millard district, said he is evaluating the complaint. Before the lawsuit was filed, Young wrote to Wilson’s attorneys telling them that the district had no intent to deceive the public and would not use any logos that “even slightly resemble” Wilson’s logo.

He wrote that there’s little chance people will confuse Millard West’s annual competition with a national gospel music TV show. He noted that Singsations was the name of a singing group on the popular TV series “Glee” and that at least four high school show choirs and three youth choirs in the United States use the name.

Also, it's a high school choir competition and why are you doing this? Hopefully the suit will get tossed at the first opportunity and the kids can go on singing.

Filed Under: singsation, trademark, willie wilson
Companies: millard west high school