A US company that manages various Whitney Houston trademarks has sued a UK promoter over a tribute show he produces called 'Whitney - Queen Of The Night'.
Houston's estate entered into a wide-ranging partnership with Primary Wave back in 2019 that included involvement in the musician's brand. It's an entity called Whit Wave IP LLC that has now sued UK-based Paul Roberts and his production company.
According to Law360, Whit Wave IP LLC accuses Roberts of wrongly passing off his tribute shows and accompanying merchandise as being somehow endorsed or approved by the company.
Roberts does actually own a UK trademark in the brand Whitney, which was registered back in 2014. However, Whit Wave IP LLC claims that that mark is invalid because it was registered in bad faith to exploit a brand in which the promoter had no legitimate interest.
The website for the ongoing tour of 'Whitney - Queen Of The Night' - which is co-promoted by Live Nation-owned Cuffe & Taylor - does currently include a disclaimer noting that the show is "a tribute production and is not affiliated or endorsed by the Whitney Houston estate". It remains to be seen if that disclaimer and Roberts' UK trademark are enough to defeat Whit Wave's legal claims.
Roberts' company recently announced the first ever US tour of 'Whitney - Queen Of The Night', which might be why Whit Wave has decided to go legal now. Although the poster for that tour drops the word Whitney from the start of the title, being billed instead as 'Queen Of The Night - A Tribute To Whitney Houston'.
Whit Wave, which also has UK-registered Whitney trademarks, wants an injunction to stop Roberts from using the Whitney name, as well as damages.