A federal judge in Memphis has denied Anita White’s motion to dismiss the band Lady A’s declaratory judgement action against the Pacific Northwest—based blues singer.
On May 13, Judge William Campbell also denied White’s request to transfer venues from Middle Tennessee, where Lady A originally filed its suit, to Washington State. Courthouse News first reported the ruling.
The band’s suit, filed under their individual names of Hillary Scott,Charles Kelley and David Haywood, asks for a ruling confirming that the trio, formerly known as Lady Antebellum, is not violating White’s purported trademark rights by using the name Lady A.
Last June, the band announced that it would stop using the Lady Antebellum name, “in recognition of the hurtful connotations of the word ‘antebellum,’ according to the 20-page ruling, and would continue on as Lady A. The band had registered and received several trademarks for the name Lady A with the United States Patent and Trademark Office going as far back as 2010 with no opposition.