Crystal Entertainment & Filmworks, Inc. v. Jurado
United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit
643 F.3d 1313 (2011)
Crystal's (plaintiff's) predecessor founded the band "Exposé" in 1984 with commercially unsuccessful, publicly unidentified original members, but the current members (defendants), who replaced the originals in 1986, achieved major commercial success, appeared on all albums and promotional materials, and became publicly synonymous with the band name; after the current members stopped paying licensing fees to Crystal and sought to register the trademark themselves, Crystal sued for infringement, and the district court found the current members were the common-law trademark owners.
Whether, if prior ownership of a trademark cannot be established, a court will award the trademark rights to the entity that controls the nature and quality of the services performed under the mark.