AEG Keeps Concerts West Name

AEG Live has retained its right to use the "Concerts West" name, a U.S. Court of Appeals ruled recently in a case stemming from a 2003 lawsuit.

In that case, Tina and Donald Hulett, the children of late concert promoter Tom Hulett, contended they owned the Concerts West moniker based on their father’s prior use of the name.

A federal district court in Los Angeles granted summary judgment in the case to AEG, ruling that the Hulett family abandoned the service mark by 1994 at the latest. AEG Live bought the Concerts West name in 2001 from Concerts West Ltd., a promotion company formed in 1998 by John Meglen and Paul Gongaware.

The court also ordered Donald Hulett to pay approximately $130,000 in attorney’s fees and costs incurred by AEG in defending against the claims.

In appealing the summary judgment, the Huletts claimed they were the beneficiaries of the Hulett Family Trust, and that the Concert West name was part of the trust’s assets. When the trust was dissolved, they argued, the trust’s assets passed into their control.

The Ninth Circuit Court disagreed and affirmed the lower court’s rulings in the suit.