Legal representatives of Chicago rap duo The Cool Kids have filed a cease and desist order against Texas indie bros Teenage Cool Kids for infringing on “federally registered trademark rights and dilut[ing] the products and services associated with The Cool Kids mark.” Apparently oblivious to the fact that there were groups named Cool Kids of Death, Cooler Kids and Cool Kidd, formed in 2001, 2002, and 2003, respectively, The Cool Kids have chosen to take the stance that they were the first to combine the words “cool” and “kids” in 2005 and will fight in a court of law to maintain exclusive rights to it.
The order also requests that Teen CK shut down their MySpace, and, more difficultly, “recall all... infringing products and materials relating to [their] goods and services.” So if you’ve ever bought merch from this band, you can just go ahead and mail it back to them. Hope you enjoyed it while it lasted.
Regarding the issue, Teenage Cool Kids member Daniel Ziegler states: “I’m not worried. It’s not the same name. I was also under the impression that musical expression didn’t need a copyright.” Assuming they make it out of this with name intact, they will have a new LP released on Protagonist in the next month and will be touring the U.S. with Fergus and Geronimo in late August.
