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Another INTA has come and gone. This year’s gathering in Seattle offered the usual opportunity for our profession to learn, network, schmooze, dine, imbibe, and discover another great musical performer at the annual Finnegan reception. (In fact, Sarah Borges and the Broken Singles delivered a spectacular performance.) But as the rare, spectacular sapphire Seattle skies of the weekend gave way to more typical clouds and showers, my “meeting fatigue” propelled me out of the convention center and towards the Experience Music Project (“EXP”), next to the Space Needle. The brainchild of Microsoft® cofounder Paul Allen, EXP is an extraordinary museum dedicated to the exploration of creativity and innovation in popular music. Housed in a colorful, Frank Gehry-designed structure that resembles a psychedelic jelly bean, EXP contains three floors of exhibition space devoted to everything music—from the history of the electric guitar to an archive of interviews with icons of Rock music. The EXP even has studios where visitors can try their hand at recording, producing, and engineering their own music.
One of the centerpieces of EXP’s permanent collection is a gallery devoted to Seattle native and Rock icon, Jimi Hendrix. You would think that an exhibit devoted to Rock’s most famous guitarist and Seattle’s favorite son would feature everything there is to know about Hendrix and his legend. But you would be wrong. Because although the Hendrix collection extensively showcases Hendrix’s personal history—Hendrix in the army, Hendrix as an up-and-coming musician, Hendrix as guitar virtuoso, even Hendrix serving as the opening act for The Monkees—one significant aspect of the Jimi Hendrix experience is missing: Hendrix as a trademark!
You see, since his tragic and untimely demise over three decades ago, his legitimate heirs have preserved the Hendrix brand as well as his band. At www.authentichendrix.com, they hawk a vast collection of music and merchandise bearing the Rock legend’s name and likeness—everything from conventional Rock T-shirts to “Home Accents” such as afghans and throw pillows. And the Hendrix estate has secured dozens of federal registrations.
All this trademark activity by the Hendrix estate has not exactly been smooth sailing. Because Jimi died without a will, his estate went to his father, Al Hendrix. Janie Hendrix, Jimi’s sister, inherited control of the guitarist’s estate when Al Hendrix, her adoptive father, died in 2002. Jimi’s half-brother, Leon Hendrix, was cut out of the will by his father, who apparently grew tired of his requests for money. Leon took Janie to court in 2004 for a cut of the $80 million and forced Janie to forfeit a sizable sum. But control over the estate, and its sizable music catalogue and trademark portfolio, remained in Janie’s hands.
Leon was not about to drift off into the purple haze. Teaming with a local businessman who bankrolled his revenge, Leon Hendrix began marketing Electric Hendrix Vodka in 2005, without the consent, license, or permission of the Hendrix estate, which by that time had successfully cultivated its trademark strategy into a successful commercial empire.
The feuding Hendrix factions again faced off in federal court over Electric Hendrix Vodka, with the estate alleging that the purple-tinged Electric Hendrix bottles, which bore the Hendrix name and “an older” image of Jimi Hendrix with a large afro, created a likelihood of confusion with the Hendrix trademark rights. Leon predictably denied this charge and challenged Janie and the estate’s underlying claim of trademark ownership.
Once again, Leon Hendrix came up empty. U.S. District Judge Thomas Zilly permanently barred Leon’s Electric Hendrix from commercially using, advertising, or challenging the trademarks and logos controlled by Experience Hendrix and Authentic Hendrix, two companies owned by the Hendrix estate. Judge Zilly also barred the vodka company from registering identical or “confusingly similar” trademarks to those owned by the estate. Bottles of Electric Hendrix Vodka had to be immediately pulled from liquor-store shelves, and all advertising and marketing of the spirit had to cease, according to the permanent injunction that was issued by Judge Zilly. And, oh yes, he awarded the estate $3.2 million in damages, a sum that would have made even Jimi sit up and take notice.
This is probably not the last we’ll hear from Leon Hendrix and his quest to wrest control of the Jimi Hendrix name and likeness from the estate. What Jimi would think of all this trademark turmoil, we’ll never know. But there’s a good chance the recent legal setback at the hands of sister Janie has half-brother Leon muttering that timeless lyric from the Hendrix classic, Purple Haze: “WHATEVER IT IS, THAT GIRL PUT A SPELL ON ME!“
