There is only one official Magic City, and it is near the corner of Forsyth and Brotherton streets in downtown Atlanta. Somebody in the Windy City thought they’d try to change that, to no avail.
Wednesday, 17100 Inc., a group out of Chicago that is planning to open a strip club, was ordered by the Southern District of Illinois U.S. District Court to stop using Magic City’s name and silhouette design in their advertising and signage, court records show.
The attempt to co-opt Magic City’s name was “a problem,” the club’s lawyer, Gary S. Freed, a partner at Thompson Hine, told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution on Thursday. “We did not sanction it, we had no knowledge of it and it could expose us to liability.”
Calls placed to attorneys for 17100 Inc. on Thursday were not immediately returned.
Owners of Magic City found out about the Chicago group’s plans after an associate called to inquire about the new location, according to court records. Screen-grabs from Twitter and Instagram included in the court record show promoters of the Chicago club continued to advertise their grand opening, even after receiving a cease-and-desist letter from Magic City’s attorneys.
A lawsuit, claiming trademark infringement among other things, was filed March 7, the day of the Chicago club’s grand opening. The same day, a temporary restraining order was filed preventing the club from opening under the Atlanta club’s name. In a matter of days, a permanent injunction was filed, prohibiting the Chicago group from using Magic City, or any derivation thereof, in its name.
Among the concerns listed in the lawsuit were that patrons could be misled to think the Chicago club was affiliated with Magic City or owned by the same people as the Atlanta club; that the Chicago club would book acts and promote itself as if it were associated with Magic City; and that the Chicago club owners chose the name Magic City because of the “good will and fame associated with the trademark.” The suit says Magic City is “featured in well-known hip-hop and rap songs by artists such as Outkast, Jay-Z, Ludacris, Gucci Mane, Bow Wow, 2 Live Crew, Wyclef Jean, Young Jeezy, Jadakiss and the Ying Yang Twins.”
Freed said this was not the first time someone has tried to open a business under the name Magic City. He said the club has successfully defended itself against groups trying to benefit from its name. Most times a cease-and-desist letter gets the job done, but they have had to go to court two or three times, he said.
“And we’ve won,” he said. “It probably happens in the intellectual property world more than people would think. Just like with Home Depot or Coca-Cola, there are those out there who would try to use those names to their economic advantage.”
Freed said the club is aware there are other clubs that use the name Magic City, and they are “working to address those instances.”
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