Rock And Roll Kibitzing

Officials with Cleveland’s Rock and Roll Hall of Fame are suing the online Jewish Rock and Roll Hall of Fame for alleged trademark infringement.

The lawsuit, filed February 7th in Cleveland, seeks unspecified damages and to ban the Jewish version from using the name.

It claims the Cleveland entity has sold more than $5 million in licensed items in the past 10 years and the Jewish rock hall will interfere with the brand and confuse patrons.

Washington Post writer David Segal, a co-founder of the Jewish hall, said the new Web site — JewsRock.org — is set to debut in March, regardless.

“The idea that the public could possibly be confused between a large museum backed by any number of corporations and a Web site run by a couple of Jewish guys is kind of nuts,” Segal said.

His partner, Jeffrey Goldberg of The New Yorker, had a more pointed response.

“It seems to be improbable that these people own ‘rock ‘n’ roll,’ it’s entirely unlikely they own the phrase ‘hall of fame,’ and I know for sure they don’t own the Jews,” Goldberg said.

According to the suit, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office denied the Jewish hall’s application for a trademark on its name because it could be confused with the “Rock Hall” trademark.

That led Cleveland officials to demand the Jewish hall stop using the name, trademark and similar logos.