A Court has ruled in favor Goldenvoice, the company behind the popular Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival, in a trademark dispute with a small outdoor film festival called Filmchella.
Coachella first filed a complaint with the district court of central California back in August, due to the fact the film festival could cause “consumer confusion” with the titan music festival. Originally the film festival changed its name from Filmchella to Filmchilla to avoid a lawsuit, but that wasn’t enough for Golden Voice whom said – “a single-letter change [was] insufficient to dispel any consumer confusion.”
Goldenvoice accused Filmchella of the following: servicemark infringement, false designation of origin, brand dilution, cybersquatting and unfair competition over attempts to operate a directly competitive festival in close proximity to Coachella.
Not to mention the description Filmchella used for its event the “Coachella for movies” and “the rock’n’roll festival for filmmakers and fans” hit a little too close to home, as well as the registered filmcoachella.com website.
Their man concern is sum is “given that there is an inherent likelihood of confusion regarding the extent to which Filmchella is associated with Coachella, Filmchella’s success or failure would be likely to impact Coachella’s reputation as well.”