The most unlikely trademark war is between an indie rock band and a major breakfast cereal maker, with a line of cereal cups at the center of the battle.
Post Foods has filed a complaint against the OK Go band, saying it is a preemptive move after a month of legal threats from the band, which said the company was trying to capitalize on its name.
It’s a lot of fingers pointing at two products that seem hard to confuse – a band best known for their elaborate music videos, such as “Here It Goes Again” and a bowl of cereal with instant milk powder that only needs to be added cold water – but the animosity is real.
Post, in the complaint, filed January 13 in Minnesota federal court, said the band has threatened legal action over the product. Post is seeking a “declaratory judgment” from the court, which would essentially remove the company from its trademark rights claims.
“Without this court resolution, Post will be unfairly forced to continue investing in the new OK GO! brand while under the constant threat of unfounded future litigation by the defendants,” Post wrote in the filing.
Last September, the band’s lawyer sent a cease-and-desist letter to the Post, saying the name of the cereal bowl would not be a clear endorsement of the band, which had previous advertising deals with Sony, Chevrolet and others. In fact, noted, did several promotional videos for another Post product: Honey Bunches of Oats.
The latter argument did not hold much weight with Post’s lawyer, who responded to OK Go’s lawyer saying: “Given the length of time that has passed since the limited collaboration of the last ten years, the small number of views shown on the YouTube Video you refer to, and the relatively slow pace of public attention in short, it also has no effect on the consumer’s perception of the Post OK GO! sign being used with cereal or cereal snacks, and will not cause a false association with OK Go.
Post said it offered to pay the band an undisclosed amount to resolve the dispute, but the offer was rejected.
In the statement to BillboardOK Go said the lawsuit was caught by surprise and continued the war of words with the Post.
“A big company chose to steal our band’s name to market plastic cups of sugar to children. This is an unexpected surprise, to say the least,” the band wrote. “But they are suing the US for this? Of course, the idea is to distract us from our own name, because they have more money to spend on lawyers? I think so, but hopefully, we will be an exception.
Post does not respond immediately Fortune’s ask for comments. Band OK GO! did not immediately give a statement.
Learn how to navigate and strengthen trust in your business with The Trust Factor, a weekly newsletter that examines what leaders need to succeed. Log in here.