Jimi Hendrix-inspired liqueur victorious in lawsuit

US-based Tiger Paw Beverages has won a trademark lawsuit involving its Jimi Hendrix-inspired Purple Haze Liqueur.

Leon Hendrix and his Tiger Paw Beverages Company have won a trademark lawsuit over the Purple Haze Liqueur brand

The Jimi Hendrix Family Companies, operated by the late rock star’s stepsister Janie Hendrix, launched legal action against Tiger Paw Beverages, co-owned by Hendrix’s biological brother Leon Hendrix, in March 2016.

The group argued that Purple Haze Liqueur infringed on and diluted the Hendrix Experience trademark, also branding the product “tasteless” since “drugs and alcohol have been connected to Jimi Hendrix’s untimely death”.

Tiger Paw Beverage Company and Leon Hendrix launched Purple Haze Liqueur, inspired by the musician’s famous song, in April 2015.

A Savannah court has now ruled that the Purple Haze Liqueur is “not similar” to any of the plaintiff’s registered trademarks, while the ‘PH’ logo, which can be viewed as ‘JH’, is “different in both style and text”.

The court also claimed that there are no similarities in the way Tiger Paw and the Jimi Hendrix Family Companies sell their products, as the plaintiff uses online platforms and the defendant uses retail outlets.

“[T]he plaintiffs have not produced any evidence indicating that members of the public have confused Tiger Paw’s product with Plaintiffs or their trademarks, and the plaintiffs have not demonstrated actual confusion with respect to their marks,” the court said.