A Manhattan federal judge has dismissed the trademark case filed by Bachata duo Loisaidas against Kanye West and Dame Dash over the use of the term for their film that has the same title of the group’s name, New York Daily News reports.
In April 2015, Michael Medina, founder, and one-half of Loisaidas filed a suit against West and Dash over the use of the term “Loisaidas” for their film about the Lower Eastside drug trade. Medina alleged that the motif of the project confused their fans and tarnished their brand after the release of its trailer in 2015.
According to the lawsuit, Medina had “Loisaidas” trademarked in 2011 and 2013.
Federal Judge Katherine Forrest dropped the suit on Thursday (July 14) explaining in a 14-page opinion that West and Dash’s use of “Loisaidas” for the movie is protected under the First Amendment since it’s a term that is commonly used to refer to the Lower Eastside of Manhattan.
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“Plaintiff is entitled to protect his duo’s trademark, but not by staking his claim to a pre-existing term and then attempting to remove all expressive, non-explicitly-misleading uses from public circulation,” Judge Forrest wrote.
The duo’s lawyer did not agree with the judgment and believes that this decision will maintain the confusion held by fans.
“It’s very damaging because the public will obviously acquaint the trademark they’ve built up for beautiful, romantic Bachata music with this highly publicized gangsta rap group that was made more popular by the powerful music mogul Kanye West.”
Watch the trailer for Loisaidas featuring appearances from The LOX and Murda Mook below.
