Family members of Jimi Hendrix have filed a lawsuit against the late guitar legend’s brother Leon Hendrix, who they claim has tried to illegally use Hendrix’s trademarks to sell cannabis-related products and other memorabilia.
The Wrap reports Experience Hendrix and Authentic Hendrix filed a suit on Thursday, claiming that Leon Hendrix and his partner Andrew Pitsicalis have repeatedly ignored injunctions against them selling the products. From The Wrap:
“Over the past 10 years, Defendants Andrew Pitsicalis and Leon Hendrix, and a variety of individuals and entities with which they have been associated, have attempted to hijack Plaintiffs’ trademarks and copyrights for their own personal gain,” the suit, file in federal court in New York on Thursday, reads. “Federal courts have repeatedly prohibited those unlawful activities. Ignoring those prohibitions, Pitsicalis and Leon recently have renewed and expanded their infringements of Plaintiffs’ trademarks and copyrights through the creation, development, licensing, manufacturing, promotion, advertising and sale of cannabis, edibles, food, wine, alcohol, “medicines,” electronic products, and other goods.”
Later in the complaint, Experience Hendrix and Authentic Hendrix called Leon Hendrix and Andrew Pitsicalis’s disregard of the injunctions “ a full-scale assault on the Plaintiffs’ trademark and copyrights that relate to Jimi Hendrix.”
Pitsicalis falsely claims that his cannabis company Purple Haze Properties “represents the greatest guitarist in Rock ‘n’ Roll history, ‘my man, Jimi Hendrix,” the suit alleges.
Experience Hendrix and Authentic Hendrix were both founded in the mid-90s by Jimi Hendrix’s father, Al Hendrix, according to the suit, with Jimi’s sister Janie Hendrix, cousin Bob Hendrix, and “certain other family members” named as managers. Leon Hendrix was reportedly excluded intentionally from both organizations by his father, who the suit claims stipulated in his will that the companies be left to“family members other than Leon Hendrix.”
Thomas Osinski, a lawyer for Leon Hendrix and Pitscalis denies the plaintiffs’ claims and told Hypebot that his “clients will be vigorously defending this latest onslaught and filing appropriate counter suits and/or counter claims to vindicate their rights and punish these slanderous and false attacks once and for all.”
[gravityform id=”13″ title=”false” description=”true”]
