Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival and Live Nation settle lawsuit over trademarks
Promoters of the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival and Live Nation have settled a lawsuit over the New Year's Eve event "Coachella Day One 22," which was produced by the Twenty-Nine Palms Band of Mission Indians.
According to court documents filed in August in the United States District Court for the Central District of California, both parties agreed to settle the matter, but details of the settlement were not available.
A spokesperson for the Twenty-Nine Palms Band of MIssion Indians said the matter is "resolved" and expects the suit to be dismissed soon.
Last December, Coachella Music Festival, LLC filed a lawsuit in Los Angeles federal court against Live Nation, Inc. alleging Twenty-Nine Palms, operating as Coachella Crossroads, were "intentionally trading on the goodwill" of the annual Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival, likely causing "consumer confusion and false association'' with the original event.
The lawsuit contended that "Twenty-Nine Palms has gone to great lengths to imitate'' the plaintiffs' Coachella and associated trademarks.
They add that the tribe and venue Coachella Crossroads, collectively referred to as Twenty-Nine Palms, were not named as defendants in the complaint because both have asserted through their counsel that they are entitled to sovereign immunity and are not subject to suit.
The tribe's event venue is located about 5 miles from where Coachella is held at the Empire Polo Club in Indio.
The plaintiffs added that they had no objections to the tribe holding a festival of their own or hosting events at their venue, but it must adopt and use an event name, venue name and trademark that avoids the possibility of consumer confusion.
Representatives for Goldenvoice were not immediately available for comment.
Previous reporting by Desert Sun reporter Amanda Ulrich was included in this report.
Brian Blueskye covers arts and entertainment for the Desert Sun. He can be reached at brian.blueskye@desertsun.com or on Twitter at @bblueskye.
This article originally appeared on Palm Springs Desert Sun: Coachella festival and Live Nation settle lawsuit over trademarks
