The US government has provisionally rejected Led Zeppelin’s attempt to secure a new trademark for the band’s mysterious “Led Zeppelin Experience” project, meaning the band may be forced to disclose more information about what the project is.
LedZepNews revealed in July that Led Zeppelin had filed last-minute paperwork aimed at keeping control of the US trademark for “The Led Zeppelin Experience”, the name of the band’s mysterious project which could be an exhibition, a hologram or even an archive of live recordings.
On July 14, lawyers representing the Jimmy Page-owned business Superhype Tapes filed a new trademark application in the US seeking to retain ownership of the brand name “The Led Zeppelin Experience”.
The trademark application covered “entertainment services” such as “live performances, road shows, live stage events, theatrical performances, live music concerts and audience participation in such events”. It also covered clothing sold using the brand name.
On December 9, the US government provisionally rejected Led Zeppelin’s trademark application. It claimed that “The Led Zeppelin Experience” is too similar to the band’s existing trademark for its name.
“‘The Led Zeppelin Experience’ is confusingly similar to the registered mark ‘Led Zeppelin’,” the US government wrote.
“Because the marks look and sound similar and create the same commercial impression, the marks are considered similar for likelihood of confusion purposes,” it explained.
In its provisional refusal, the US government also sent Led Zeppelin’s lawyers a screenshot of a dictionary website, showing the definition of the word “experience” as it explained why the band couldn’t create a new trademark by simply adding the word on to an existing trademark.
“‘Experience’ merely describes a feature of applicant’s services, as the term means events
lived through or participated in. See attached evidence from American Heritage Dictionary,” the US government wrote.
Led Zeppelin now has three months to respond to the US government if it wishes to revise its trademark application for “The Led Zeppelin Experience”. The band’s lawyers may share more information about the project in order to explain why they should be able to use the word “experience” in a separate trademark to the band’s name.
The history of The Led Zeppelin Experience
Beginning in 2017, the three surviving members of Led Zeppelin and the estate of John Bonham were jointly involved in the planning of The Led Zeppelin Experience, which seems to have been a planned exhibition with a potential hologram component and potentially live recordings involved too.
The band filed a US trademark application for “The Led Zeppelin Experience” on November 2, 2017. Weeks later in December 2017, Jason Bonham changed the name of his band from “Jason Bonham’s Led Zeppelin Experience” to “Jason Bonham’s Led Zeppelin Evening”.
Bonham spoke to Billboard in 2018, explaining: “I got a letter from their attorney, who happens to be my attorney as well. As I read the first few lines I felt very upset,” Bonham said. “It was my wife who saved me from getting into a rage; I was about to group-dial Jimmy, John Paul and Robert and go ‘What the hell…!’ but she said ‘Read the rest.’ And I saw it wasn’t personal. They wanted to free up the terminology.”
The members of Led Zeppelin and Pat Bonham set up a UK business named Company 2018 in June 2018 which carries out “activities of exhibition and fair organisers”, according to Companies House filings. Each surviving band member and Bonham own 25% of the business.
Speaking in 2021 during an interview with Eddie Trunk, Bonham said that “there was something they were working on, which from the looks of what the news – just saw in the news the other day, it was possibly something similar to what Pink Floyd had done with the Pink Floyd Experience. I think they wanted the terminology, ‘Experience,’ to be able to do something like that, I guess.”
Speaking to Uncut Magazine for an interview published in its May 2022 issue, Page confirmed that Led Zeppelin had planned its own exhibition. “There was something at one point,” he said. “But all the members and people around the band couldn’t agree.”
Page has also confirmed that Led Zeppelin had been approached about a potential hologram of the band. Led Zeppelin was asked to do “that sort of thing”, Page said on stage at the Hay Festival in Wales in June 2022. However, he explained that the surviving band members couldn’t agree about the project so it “didn’t really get moving”.
Led Zeppelin also owns trademarks for “The Led Zeppelin Experience” in the UK and in Europe. They are due to expire in November 2027.
Company 2018, the UK business set up seemingly to manage the project, remains trading and continues to file accounts every year. However, the continued trading of the business doesn’t prove that the exhibition is still being worked on.
Three P Films, a UK business set up in 2011 to support the release of “Celebration Day”, remains active, as does P & P Touring which was incorporated in New York in 1994 to support Page and Robert Plant’s touring.
Why did you have to do Jason like that in the first place when you had no actual plan Jimmy? 😔
Seems quite blown out of proportion, frankly a media attempt to make a mountain out of a molehill…
Cue the Frank Drebin ‘Police Squad’ gif: “Nothing to See Here”🙃👌
…That said, an eventual holographic Zeppelin, Hendrix, Lennon, Elvis, SRV, & any other eventual non performing entertainer could be a very unique ✨️’experience’✨️🎶😎
At least Hendrix had Are you Experienced as a lrad line in one of his songs
How about ‘Experience Led Zeppelin’
T his band has way too much history for this.
@HarrisonG
I don’t think you’re wrong about that, but I also feel like it’s a newsworthy series of events, especially given how many lawyers are seemingly involved. Not to mention, busy firing off trademark applications, C&D letters to people (Jason) who should really be treated like family rather than Defendant 1. I get that any business as profitable and multi-faceted as Led Zeppelin can’t so much as sneeze without massive bureaucratic mechanisms spinning up just to offer it a tissue, but this all does seem a bit MUCH.
How about the led zeppelin enlightenment
Enlightenment is awakening, it’s understanding, it’s a higher realm of knowledge.
ITS THE ULTIMATE EXPERIENCE
Maybee Experience “The Nobbs”
Who gives a crap? Most overrated band ever, if not then the second most overrated band ever. Just go away
I know how they can get this aporoved. Pay the guy in the WH off. It’ll get approved quickly.
Peter grant, you are surely missed right about now….
Tribute bands, like what they’d call Jason’s band,are pretty tacky when the other members are Still Alive! Using their name and just adding a word to it is horrible. People are going to think either it’s all impersonators.or all the members will be there. (Robert and Jimmy were doing Jason a favor for letting him do his dad’s job on stage. They didn’t Have to use him. He gets 25% of money but he did Not Inherit the Band’s Name. He’s being a brat, an entitled brat).Since Jimmy and Robert have the Experience name in Europe copyrighted it’s obvious they should use that name in the US too.
In my opinion (which obviously doesn’t matter to anyone but me)those “tribute” impersonator bands shouldn’t even be allowed to use the bands name in the top line of billing. It should say something like 1:”Bonham’s Band”, line 2:(a tribute to Led Zeppelin)
Lol and then excited lettering with “with John Bonham’s son!”
In truth the past 9 years have been a hit or miss with the Zeppelin camp. The reissues of their catalog was kinda lame, specially how they missed the mark on physical… why couldn’t they release some live concerts on the 1975 album? Hopefully they will get the clue that if they did release a live streaming of their concerts it would do well.
A hologram show would be an insult to any fan. I have no desire to watch cartoon characters or any ‘tribute’ bands as they fall very short of the original. Re-mastered live shows (best of) would suffice. Anything else is milking it. Keep it classy guys, not gimmicky.
please forward the news and informatio,to the below email.
I have pretty much loved led Zeppelin for over 50 years now. I don’t get jimmy wanting to take Jason’s title that he used to promote his own tribute to led Zeppelin, which is where his father was a member and a particularly necessary part of that band. Without John Bonham Zep might not have been as popular as they were. Besides, being Johns son wouldn’t you want him to get the most he could monetarily honoring his father and, by extension, the band?
Everybody wants to rule the world.
It used to be fun .
Now reduced to this.
In response to Claude’s message…nailed it. 😊
I’m not a Bonham -I’m a Brannan who can play drums just as well and appreciate those who participate in the Led Zeppelin experience. I love this band and Jason Bonham’s performances.
But I would also love to have an opportunity to play drums with the great Jimmy Page-
The American Government are weak little cry babies.
Want Zep wants, they should get. “Do what thy want how mete it be’
Any new or live material would be welcome by me. Let’s have some fun and have new concerts please LZ.
I think the decision; as well as Robbie’s new Album ( excellent) are valid fuel for a reunion!
I vaguely recall a touring zep cover band that used a name like “led zeppelin experience”. If they were not licensed by zeppelin, that may be part of why they are seeking the trademark.
The vinyl reissues were excellent, they at least were the opposite of lame.
How about The Experience of Led Zepplin…too many hands in one pot. Sounds ridiculous government should give them this right they earned it!