Lane Powell scored a significant victory for “Boston” former lead singer Fran Cosmo and his guitarist son Anthony, over claims of alleged trademark infringement. On Tuesday, August 20, a federal judge in Seattle rejected Boston founder Tom Scholz’s efforts to block former band members Fran and Anthony Cosmo from referring to themselves as “former members” of Boston.
Fran Cosmo was the lead singer on Boston’s 1994 “Walk On” album. Over the years Fran shared lead with Boston’s original singer, Brad Delp, and he and Brad were close friends. Fran toured exclusively with the band through 2004. Anthony Cosmo was a guitarist and songwriter for the band from 1999 until 2004.
Scholz has sued the Cosmos in Seattle, alleging that they had violated his trademarks in the band name Boston by referencing their past affiliation with the band in flyers and other promotional materials. As part of that lawsuit, Scholz asked the court for an injunction seeking to dictate how the Cosmos could refer to their former affiliation with Boston.
Scholz has filed many lawsuits over the years, including many against former members of Boston. He currently has a lawsuit pending against founding member Barry Goudreau, where he has made similar allegations to the ones made against the Cosmos.
Lane Powell argued the motion before U.S. District Judge James L. Robart of the Western District of Washington, who denied Scholz’s motion for a preliminary injunction. Judge Robart found that Scholz had “failed to establish that he is likely to succeed on the merits, that he is likely to suffer irreparable harm in the absence of preliminary relief, that the balance of equities tips in his favor, and that an injunction is in the public interest.”
