Coachella sues Urban Outfitters

By

Kate Dingwall

Published
Mar 17, 2017

Coachella is pursuing legal action against Urban Outfitters for the unauthorized use of the festival’s name. The trademark lawsuit was filed two days ago in the Central District Court of California. 

Both Urban Outfitters and its Free People subsidiary have been using the name 'Coachella' to describe festival-inspired clothing, like the 'Coachella Mini Dress' and the 'Coachella Boot'. All offending pieces have since been removed. 

Coachella is accusing Urban Outfitters of "trading on the goodwill and fame" of the music festival to draw in customers. By using the popularity of the Google search 'Coachella clothing', Urban Outfitters has been able to capitalize on the festival’s huge success. 

Furthermore, Coachella is claiming Urban Outfitters “ignored [the] Plaintiff’s demands to cease their unlawful conduct.” Coachella argues that it contacted Urban Outfitters several times to have the items removed or the names of the items changed, but Coachella’s requests were ignored. 

Coachella currently offers its own branded line of clothing, jewelry, and accessories. Urban Outfitters' unauthorized use of the Coachella name places the brand in direct competition with Coachella’s apparel line. 

Coachella has entered a legal battle over the rights to its name before. Last year, Coachella filed a suit against Hoodchella, a hip hop music festival that ran one week before Coachella’s first weekend.