According to documents obtained by Fox Business, Lady Gaga was hit by a $100 million lawsuit by a California surf company.
The full name Gaga, Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta, launched its sixth studio album, Mayhem, on March 7th, with products featuring Mayhem Design.
Lost International filed a complaint in California District Court on Tuesday, claiming that the “Just Dance” singer used a “substantially similar, if not nearly identical” logo that the company registered its trademark a decade ago.
The singer's legal team condemned the attempted lawsuit in a statement provided to Fox Business.
“Lady Gaga's Mayhem has soared to number one and shattered records, testimony to mismatched talent and global influence,” said her attorney, Olin Snyder. “It's not surprising to see that someone is trying to capitalize on her success in an unfounded lawsuit against the mayhem. This is nothing more than an opportunistic and ruthless abuse of the legal system.”
“Lady Gaga was one-sided and without any lost permission or knowledge, he attempted to misapprove the name, trademark, and stylized mark of “Maritime” by releasing an album entitled “Maritime” and launching tours of the same name, and selling clothing and accessories under that name. ”
Furthermore, “Despite the notice from Lost's attorney, Lady Gaga fails, refuses, continues to fail, refuses to stop intentionally and blatant infringement at the registered mark, and therefore must be immediately forbidden from this action.”
Lost included an image of the logo alongside the Lady Gaga version in the lawsuit.
The California-based surf company was founded in 1985 and claimed that it would begin using the logo in apparel in 1988.
They added in the lawsuit: “The foregoing increases the lost damage, among other things, by diluting the mark, bypassing revenue from lost defendants and robbing them of their loss of their ability to manage and control the brand.”
“Lady Gaga's actions are likely to mislead the public to conclude that her goods have been lost or approved by what was lost. “Lost has no control over the quality of the items Lady Gaga sells. Because of the source of the confusion caused by Mrs. Gaga, Lost has controlled valuable goodwill.”
Surf Company is seeking $100 million in losses as well as attorneys' fees.
