Rapper-turned-country singer Jelly Roll has been sued for trademark infringement by a Philadelphia wedding band called Jellyroll.
As first reported by Court Watch, Jellyroll founder Kurt Titchenell sued the more famous Jelly Roll (born Jason DeFord) in federal court on Monday (April 8th), alleging that his band had been using the name for decades — long before DeFord began putting out music under his current moniker. Titchenell also claims Jelly Roll’s rise in popularity has impacted the ability of “Philly’s favorite wedding band” (as dubbed by Philadelphia Inquirer) to find work while infringing on their trademark for the name, filed in 2010.
“Prior to the Defendant’s recent rise in notoriety, a search of the name of Jellyroll.. returned references to the Plaintiff,” the complaint reads. “Now, any such search on Google returns multiple references to Defendant, perhaps as many as 18-20 references before any reference to Plaintiff’s entertainment dance band known as Jellyroll can be found.”
According to the lawsuit, the wedding band Jellyroll has performed at “celebratory and charitable events” throughout the Northeast “since at least 1980,” including two White House appearances during the George W. Bush administration. Meanwhile, the rapper-singer Jelly Roll wasn’t even born until 1984.
Though DeFord has claimed in interviews that Jelly Roll was a childhood nickname given by his mother, he didn’t start using it as an artist name until a 2003 self-released mixtape called The Plain Shmear Tape, which the then little-known rapper followed with a string of independent projects.
Jellyroll and Jelly Roll quietly co-existed until the latter rebranded as a country singer and quickly rose to fame. After breaking out with “Son of a Sinner” in 2022, Jelly Roll’s “Need a Favor” was a No. 1 hit on the country charts last year. He was also nominated for Best New Artist at the Grammy Awards this year, and picked up several wins at the Country Music Awards.
In the complaint, Titchenell’s attorneys said they sent a cease-and-desist letter to Jelly Roll’s management in February, which led to “several conversations.” However, there was no resolution to the matter, and Jelly Roll’s lawyers even questioned whether the two artists were really “in competition” at one point.
“Despite his receipt of a demand to cease and desist using Plaintiff’s registered service mark, Defendant has ignored this demand and continues to use Plaintiff’s
registered service mark knowing that it continues to irreparably harm Plaintiff but has nevertheless callously disregarded the rights of Plaintiff to his own service mark,” Titchenell’s lawyers wrote.
The band Jellyroll is seeking a court order putting a stop to Jelly Roll’s use of the name — particularly concerning his concert at Philadelphia’s Wells Fargo Center in October.