One Direction vs. One Direction

One Direction, the United Kingdom edition, might be forced to change their band's name after an American version under the same moniker recently claimed that they had it first and now they want it back.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, the UK edition of One Direction, which is currently signed to Simon Cowell's Syco Entertainment record label, knew of the U.S. version of One Direction prior to their American debut.

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One Direction (UK) is composed of five guys, Harry, Liam, Louis, Niall and Zayne. After placing third in the seventh season of 'The X Factor," they signed onto Syco and later signed to Columbia Records.

Their debut single, "What Makes You Beautiful," released in Sept. 2011, peaked at number one in the UK. Their debut album Up All Night was released in Nov. 2011 and debuted at number one on the U.S. Billboard 200.

When One Direction (UK) initially tried to file an application with the U.S. Trademark Office in order to bring the band to America, they were informed of the U.S. version of One Direction and decided to move forward anyway.

See more: One Direction sued by U.S. band with same name

"Rather than change their name or do anything to create confusion or avoid damage to our goodwill, they chose to press ahead and come on their tour," Peter Ross, attorney for One Direction (U.S.) said.

Now One Direction (UK) has been slapped with a $1 million lawsuit stating that they cannot perform in the U.S. without creating "consumer confusion and destroying the goodwill of the U.S.-based doppelganger." They are also citing a recent event on NBC's "Today" as an instance of "consumer confusion" when the UK band was shown with an accompanying track called "2012" by One Direction (U.S.).

One Direction, the U.S. edition, is a band from California who play their own instruments and function more as an indie act than a singing and dancing group. Their album, "The Light," has been selling quite well on iTunes, for an unsigned act, and the added publicity over their band name's trademark discrepancy can only be helping sales.

This instance of musical trademark infringement has happened before and usually results in one band changing their name in some way, shape or form.

For example, when the UK band Bush tried to bring their music to Canada in the mid-'90s, a trademark battle emerged between the band, fronted by singer/songwriter Gavin Rossdale, and a '70s Canadian band under same name.

Bush (UK) was forced to go by Bush X for their Canadian release, but was given permission to perform in Canada without the added X after each band member agreed to donate $20,000 to charity. This special arrangement was purposed by Domenic Troiano, guitarist for Bush (CAN), and was settled in 1997.

Similar legal threats have occurred in the past and also forced bands like Blink-182, Black Sabbath and Poison to change their names from Blink, Earth, and Paris, respectively, in order to avoid a lawsuit.

One Direction (U.S.) - "2012"

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