Coachella Organizers Awarded Temporary Restraining Order Against Live Nation Over “Coachella Day One 22” New Year’s Eve Event – Update
UPDATED: A judge has handed the organizers of the Coachella Valley Music & Arts Festival a win by granting a temporary restraining order against the advertisers of a New Year’s Eve event with a similar name, according to court papers obtained today. The judge also ordered Live Nation to stop promoting the New Year’s event under its original name, “Coachella Day One 22,” on Ticketmaster.
The festival filed a trademark-infringement suit last week against Live Nation Entertainment over Coachella Day One 22, an event produced by the 29 Palms Band of Mission Indians and advertised on Live Nation’s Ticketmaster platform.
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Like the annual Coachella Valley Music & Arts Festival, the 29 Palms event is advertised as an outdoor music festival that features numerous forms of entertainment and artists. The New Year’s Eve event is located in close proximity to the site where the Coachella Valley event normally takes place in April, according to the lawsuit filed in Los Angeles federal court.
The plaintiffs allege that the 29 Palms Band of Mission Indians, operating as Coachella Crossroads — also the name of its venue, located five miles from the site of the Coachella Valley festival — are “intentionally trading on the goodwill” of the Coachella festival, causing a likelihood of “consumer confusion and false association” with the original event.
In a minute order issued late Monday, U.S. District Judge R. Gary Klausner also granted a temporary restraining order against website host Bluehost, stopping it from promoting “Coachella Day One 22” online. The judge did not prohibit the use of the name “Coachella Crossroads,” however, just the moniker “Coachella Day One 22.”
PREVIOUSLY on Dec. 13: The Coachella Music Festival — including event producer Goldenvoice — filed a trademark- infringement lawsuit today against Live Nation Entertainment over a competitive event produced by the Twenty-Nine Palms Band of Mission Indians called “Coachella Day One 22,” which is now advertised on Live Nation’s Ticketmaster marketplace.
Like the 20-year-old Coachella Valley Music & Arts Festival, Twenty-Nine Palms’ Coachella Day One 22 event is advertised as an outdoor live music gathering that features entertainment and performances and is located in close proximity to the site where the original Coachella festival is held, according to the lawsuit filed in Los Angeles federal court.
While the lineup for the fast-approaching December 31, 2021 event appears fairly fluid, its Facebook page lists acts including Lil Wayne, Diesel (aka Saquille O’Neal), E-40 and Getter.
Coachella Day One 22 via Facebook
The plaintiffs allege in the complaint that the Twenty-Nine Palms Band of Mission Indians, operating as Coachella Crossroads, are “intentionally trading on the goodwill” of the Coachella event, causing a likelihood of “consumer confusion and false association” with the original event.
The plaintiffs state that the Twenty-Nine Palms Band of Mission Indians and Coachella Crossroads — collectively referred to as Twenty-Nine Palms — are not named as defendants in the action because both have asserted through their counsel that they are entitled to sovereign immunity, and not subject to suit. Attorneys for the Coachella Valley festival say that Twenty-Nine Palms may be added as defendants at a later date.
“Twenty-Nine Palms has gone to great lengths to imitate” the plaintiffs’ Coachella and associated trademarks, the suit contends.
The Coachella festival was not held in person in 2020 and 2021 due to the pandemic; however, a virtual Coachella event took place instead. The multi-day event is scheduled to return next year on April 15-17 and April 22-24.
The plaintiffs say they have no objection to Twenty-Nine Palms holding a festival of their own or hosting events at their venue, but it must adopt and use an event name, venue name and trademark that avoids the possibility of consumer confusion.
“Despite repeated requests from plaintiffs, Twenty-Nine Palms has refused to adopt its own distinctive event name or venue name and marks,” according to the lawsuit.
Coachella Crossroads — an outdoor entertainment complex located adjacent to the Spotlight 29 Casino in Coachella — is advertising its first New Year’s Eve event, called Day One 22.
Held annually at the Empire Polo Club in desert, the Coachella Valley festival is among the most acclaimed contemporary music festivals in the world.
The Polo Club site, which includes the festival grounds, on-site camping, parking and support operations, encompass over 800 acres. Attendance to the perennially sold-out festival, aggregated over the multi-day event, is estimated at 750,000 attendees, according to the plaintiffs.
The next edition runs in April 2022. Travis Scott was reported to have been a headliner, but was removed from that slot on Sunday after the tragedy at his Astroworld festival.
City News Service contributed to this report.
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