Trick Pony Want to Be Trick Pony Again
Trick Pony just want their name back. The duo are disputing a former manager's claim over the trademark, and the case has made its way through several courts.
Original members Heidi Newfield and Keith Burns make up the current version of the country ensemble (Ira Dean left the trio after a 2014 reunion). "Pour Me" and "On a Night Like This" were their biggest hits, but they maintained a foothold on the radio and stages until Newfield went solo in 2006. A trademark on their name expired sometime before the 2014 reunion, and a former manager named Herbert Graham picked it up, according to the Tennessean.
The Nashville-based newspaper reports that the dispute over the name focuses on if Graham and a Texas-based law firm acted in bad faith when they let the trademark expire. The lapse in application came while Trick Pony were broken up, and in court documents Graham said he wanted to form a band with the same name in hopes of recouping money he lost while supporting Trick Pony previously.
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Several lawsuits have been filed, with Graham's new corporation PGP LLC. filing suit in federal court in June. A federal trademark dispute filed by Newfield and Burns was suspended at this time.
The singers are understandably upset, calling the the loss of their trademark to someone who was once a manager and friend a "shot in the gut." It's not clear when the next step in the legal process will occur, but a Memphis-based federal judge will handle proceedings.
Trick Pony released three albums and scored four Top 20 singles between 2000 and 2005. Dean and Burns carried on with new singer Aubrey Collins for a short bit, but Dean would depart in 2008. He again left the trio after they reunited and started working toward a new album. The Pony Up EP was released in 2016.
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