Bands settle name dispute

LONDON, UK (Blue Fans Website) - Two bands called Blue have settled their High Court "name's the same" battle.
The current boy band and the 50-something members of a Seventies rock group agreed that each could continue to be known as and trade under the name Blue.
After 30 minutes of out-of-court discussions, Mr Justice Laddie was told that a "passing-off" claim by the old band seeking damages and an injunction to stop the new band using the name would be dismissed by consent.

The original Scotland-based Blue - brothers Hugh and David Nicholson, from East Kilbride, Ian MacMillan, from Paisley, and the Nicholson's elder brother and manager Matt - agreed to a �100,000 legal costs order being made against them.

But the new Blue - Duncan James, Anthony Costa, Lee Ryan and Simon Webbe - and their record company EMI/Virgin pledged that the costs order would not be enforced so long as the old band stuck by an undertaking not to pursue their complaint by other means - such as a trademark action.

The judge - who observed at the start of the case last Friday that fans were hardly likely to confuse one band with the other in view of the age difference - described the settlement as "very sensible".