OFF BEAT: Hell's Angels up in arms over logo copyright
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For their sake, let's hope the Hell's Angels are better at civil litigation than they are at providing concert security.
The legendary biker club has filed a federal lawsuit against the Dillard's Inc. chain of department stores and one of its suppliers, accusing the companies of ripping off its famous “Death's Head” logo.
Attorneys for the Hell's Angels Motorcycle Corp. — the club's legally incorporated entity — allege that Stockton, Calif.-based Dillard's and its supplier, 8732 Apparel L.L.C., manufactures and sells a line of hats, shirts and vests bearing a winged logo that is “confusingly similar” to the insignia the Angels have used to denote membership in the club for more than 50 years, according to documents filed this week in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of California in Sacramento.
The Hells Angels have accused Dillard's and its supplier of federal trademark infringement, and have asked the court to permanently halt any future sales or manufacturing of the disputed merchandise, and that all existing merchandise be recalled and destroyed.
The biker group is also seeking “exemplary damages for fraud, malice and gross negligence,” according to court documents.
