Billboard reported that Philadelphia wedding band Jellyroll had voluntarily dropped the trademark lawsuit against the Grammy-nominated singer Jelly Roll.
Jelly Roll, formally known as Jason DeFord, was accused of trademark infringement by Jellyroll, a prominent wedding band in Philadelphia. The band's frontman, Kurt Titchenell, claimed they have been using the name for decades already and were even described by the Philadelphia Inquirer as "Philly's favorite wedding band."
The publication reported that on July 9, 2024, Titchenell agreed to permanently drop his lawsuit, indicating that he had "settled" with an "amicable agreement" with DeFord.
"We look forward to our continued use of the name, Jellyroll Band, in connection with our party band business," he said in a statement to the publication.
As of this writing, the settlement that Titchenell revealed has not been disclosed to the media. Notably, Titchenell unilaterally dropped the case and was not even signed by DeFord's legal team. DeFord has yet to address his recent legal win.
According to court documents obtained by People magazine in April 2024, Titchenell is asking Jelly Roll to stop using his name. Titchenell claimed that they have been using the name since 1980, obtained the trademark in 2010, and renewed the paperwork for it in 2019.
Jellyroll claimed to have been performing under the name since 1980, twice at The White House with former President George W. Bush and his family.
In his complaint, Titchenell claimed that "prior to the Defendant's recent rise in notoriety, a search of the name Jellyroll on most search engines, and particularly Google, returned references to the Plaintiff."
DeFord was born in 1984 and started making music in the 2000s before adopting the stage name in 2010.
"Now, any such search on Google returns multiple references to Defendant, perhaps as many as 18-20 references before any reference to Plaintiff's entertainment dance band known as Jellyroll® can be found," Titchenell's legal team said. "Several conversations ensued and at one point Defendant's counsel inquired as to whether Defendant really was in competition with Plaintiff."
Jelly Roll's popularity has surged since he made waves in 2023 in the country music scene.
He won three awards at the 2024 CMT Music Awards, making him the most-awarded artist for two consecutive years because he also won three in the 2023 ceremony.
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