OutKast has filed a trademark infringement lawsuit against an electronic dance music duo called ATLiens – the same name as one of the iconic hip-hop duo's best-known songs.
In a lawsuit filed Tuesday in federal court in Georgia, attorneys for Big Boi (Antoine Patton) and André 3000 (Andre Benjamin) argue that the name (a portmanteau of “aliens” and their hometown of Atlanta) is a new linguistic term – and that the opposing team is confusing music fans by using it.
“The word ATLiens was coined by OutKast. Before OutKast created it, it was unused in the cultural lexicon and did not exist,” the group wrote. “Defendant's use of the ATLiens mark is likely to confuse, mislead or deceive the public.”
Released in 1996, ATLiens is OutKast's second studio album, featuring the song of the same name as one of the LP's singles. The album spent 33 weeks on the Billboard 200, while the song itself peaked at No. 35 on the Hot 100 and spent 17 weeks on the chart.
The track, which was a big hit at the time, is “one of OutKast's most well-known and notable songs,” the lawsuit claims, and the duo “continues to perform 'ATLiens' on nearly all (if not every) of his entire live performances.”
According to the team's lawyers, rival ATLiens began using its name in 2012 and later trademarked the name. In the suit, Outkast appears to claim that they didn't know about the other dance group until recently.
Accusing the EDM duo of infringement, OutKast says the two names are “identical” and used for the same thing – musical duos from Atlanta who play in “related musical genres.” The lawsuit even claims that, thanks to the rival group's stage costumes, fans may literally believe they are Big Boi and André 3000.
“The duo consisting of the Defendant plays with masks, thereby concealing its identity, so that consumers mistakenly believe that the members of the Defendant are one and the same – or at least somehow connected to the plaintiff,” the lawyers write by OutKast.
OutKast says it tried to “negotiate an amicable resolution of the dispute,” but that ATLiens continued to use the name in confusing ways — such as a poster for an upcoming show in Atlanta that allegedly riffs on a similar poster used by OutKast.
“Management for OutKast has already received communications from third parties asking whether OutKast was affiliated with the defendant's upcoming show,” the group's attorneys wrote.
ATLiens representatives did not immediately return a request for comment.
Technically, the case was filed by High Schoolers LLC, a holding company owned by Big Boi and André 3000 that controls the OutKast trademarks.
from our partners at https://www.billboard.com/pro/outkast-lawsuit-edm-duo-atliens-infringement-song-album-name/