A potential pastry battle has been averted as Jellyroll (the Philadelphia wedding band) has dismissed their trademark infringement lawsuit against Jelly Roll (the hit-making country singer).
Back in April, Jellyroll sued Jelly Roll, arguing that the group had been operating under that moniker since 1980 — four years before Jason “Jelly Roll” DeFord was even born — and filed a trademark for the name back in 2010, the same year Jelly Roll started recording under the nickname given to him by his mother.
However, in a statement on the Jellyroll Band’s social media, the group’s owner, Kurt L. Titchenell, announced that they amicably “settled its intellectual property claim” against Jelly Roll before the matter reached trial.
“The dispute with Jason Bradley DeFord, a.k.a. Jelly Roll, has been resolved, and the legal action has been withdrawn. We look forward to our continued use of the name, Jellyroll Band, in connection with our party band business,” Titchenell said in a statement.
While Jellyroll the band might not be packing arenas like Jelly Roll, they aren’t exactly obscure, especially along the Northeast Corridor: Over the decades, Jellyroll Band — the self-proclaimed “Best Wedding Band in Philadelphia” — has regularly played private and public events around the Pennsylvania city.
In 2007, they even earned an invitation to play at the White House after one of former President George W. Bush’s daughters saw them play at a country club in Delaware. (First Lady Laura Bush liked them so much that she asked the band to play at her 44th high school reunion the following year.)
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Jellyroll Band’s lawsuit against Jelly Roll — which was filed after his legal team ignored a cease-and-desist — accused the singer of creating “confusion in the marketplace,” especially when the country star’s arena tour took him to the band’s home turf of Philadelphia. Highlighting Jelly Roll’s October show in Philadelphia, the suit claims, “All such marketing has used the Defendant’s professionally adopted and infringing name Jelly Roll in these efforts.”
Terms of the settlement that allowed for the Jellyrolls to co-exist were not revealed.