Rhino EntertainmentThe Eagles have settled a trademark-infringement lawsuit they launched last year against a hotel in Todos Santos, Mexico, called the Hotel California, Billboard reports. The hotel, of course shares its name with the band’s chart-topping 1977 album and song.
A joint dismissal of the suit, which had charged the hotel with falsely implying that it was associated with the Eagles, was filed Wednesday in the U.S. District Court in Los Angeles. That same day, the hotel’s request to permanently drop its bid for a trademark application was accepted by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.
Attorneys for the band and the hotel both confirmed that the lawsuit had been dropped by mutual agreement. The hotel’s lawyer tells Billboard, “The Hotel California and its affiliates will continue using the name, service mark and trademark ‘Hotel California’ in Mexico…The Hotel and its affiliates continue to own some 28 valid Mexican trademark registrations for the mark ‘Hotel California’ and variants.”
The lawsuit, which was filed in May 2017, claimed that, using advertising geared to U.S. customers, the hotel falsely suggested that it was the inspiration for the classic Eagles song. The suit also noted that the hotel plays “Hotel California” and other Eagles tunes on its grounds, and sells T-shirts “that refer to the hotel as ‘legendary,'” as well as a variety of other “Hotel California”-branded merchandise.
Reps for the hotel, which first opened in 1950 is located at the tip of Baja California, insisted that they weren’t trying mislead tourists regarding an association with the band.
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