Legendary Atlanta hip-hop duo Outkast has sued an electronic dance group over its use of the name ATLiens.
In the lawsuit filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia last week, the group accused ATLiens of taking a name Outkast have used for more than 28 years but did not trademark at the time.
The EDM group ATLiens in 2020 registered the service mark “ATLiens” in the U.S. Patent Office unbeknownst to Outkast at the time.
Outkast has since filed multiple trademark applications for ATLiens but, according to the lawsuit, the U.S. Patent Office “has cited likelihood of confusion” as grounds “to refuse registration” of Outkast’s applications. Outkast is trying to cancel the EDM group’s service mark, citing “common law rights.”
The duo said in its lawsuit that they created the term ATLiens as a combo of Atlanta and aliens for its 1996 album and a single of the same name. “Before Outkast created it,” the lawsuit noted, “it was not used in the cultural lexicon and did not exist.”
The lawsuit noted that Outkast has performed the song live many times including on “Saturday Night Live” and during its 20th anniversary reunion tour in 2014. Outkast member Big Boi used the song as part of a medley at the 2023 Grammys celebrating 50 years of hip-hop. The group has also sold merchandise with the ATLiens name and the lawsuit provided a variety of examples such as a water bottle, hoodies and T-shirts.
“The term ATLiens,” the lawsuit said, “is inextricably associated with Outkast.”
The EDM group, the lawsuit alleged, “selected the name ATLiens for their EDM duo to trade upon the tremendous fame and goodwill associated with plaintiff’s ‘ATLiens’ album, song, and mark, or, at a minimum, to call to consumers’ minds plaintiff’s famous ATLiens album, song, and mark.”
Outkast tried to resolve this dispute behind the scenes, the lawsuit said, but ATLiens instead has advertised an upcoming tour that includes a stop in Atlanta at the Roxy at the Battery, which has a capacity of 2,650, on Feb. 15, 2025.
The EDM group’s actions, the lawsuit alleges, “demonstrate that it knowingly, willfully, intentionally, and maliciously adopted and uses the ATLiens mark (and continued to use it in the face of Plaintiff’s objections) and demonstrate an intentional, willful, and malicious intent to trade on the goodwill associated with Plaintiff.”
The EDM group has its own website, social media and merchandise, examples of which were included in the lawsuit. The two members of ATLiens have shielded their identity from the public, wearing masks on stage.
The lawsuit also noted the similarities between the two groups: “Both are duos from Atlanta, Georgia, both perform and record music in related musical genres (hip-hop/R&B and EDM), and both have promoted their music, live performances, and related goods and services using space and/or alien themed imagery.”
Outkast also believes “the defendant’s use of the ATLiens mark has already caused actual confusion amongst consumers, which confusion will no doubt continue to occur.”
ATLiens’ manager Griffin Haddrill did not respond to a text seeking comment.
In a follow-up statement provided to The AJC, the attorneys representing Outkast Peter Nussbaum and Abigail Remore wrote: “This is a basic brand protection issue. Efforts to resolve this matter amicably were unfortunately unsuccessful and Outkast therefore had to file suit in order to protect the valuable name and trademark ATLiens that it created and has continuously used for nearly 30 years.”
In 1999, Rosa Parks sued Outkast over use of the civil rights pioneer’s name in a song title, a lawsuit which was settled in 2005.
In 2021, the group sent a cease and desist letter to Atlanta’s Wild Heaven Beer for naming three beers after Outkast lyrics. The brewery quietly removed the beers without incident, according to Aaron Williams, who was working at Hop City, another brewery, in conjunction with Wild Heaven on the promotion at the time.
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