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Kanye West‘s legal battle with Melbourne burger restaurant College Dropout Burgers has taken a twist, amid reports the American rapper has ceased communication with his Australian lawyers.
Kanye, known professionally as Ye, launched legal proceedings in October, accusing the Ivanhoe restaurant and its owner Mark Elkhouri of ‘misleading or deceptive conduct’ by using the name of his debut album, The College Dropout.
Mr Elkhouri’s lawyer Craig Smith told the Federal Court on Friday that Ye had failed to take any further action since filing the suit, and had ceased communication with his Australian lawyers, as reported by News.com.au
Kanye West’s legal battle with Melbourne burger restaurant College Dropout Burgers has taken a twist, amid reports the American rapper (pictured) has ceased communication with his Australian lawyers
Mr Smith is seeking to have the case dismissed when it returns before the court on March 3.
Ye launched legal proceedings on October 21 2022, opposing the trademark registration of College Dropout Burgers on the grounds of ‘misleading or deceptive conduct’.
In a 43-page document, Ye’s lawyers demanded Elkhouri ‘withdraw his Australian trademark application for College Dropout Burgers, destroy any material that references Ye or his branding, and pay their costs’.
Kanye, known professionally as Ye, launched legal proceedings in October, accusing the Ivanhoe restaurant and its owner Mark Elkhouri (pictured) of ‘misleading or deceptive conduct’ by using the name of his debut album, The College Dropout
Mr Elkhouri’s lawyer Craig Smith told the Federal Court on Friday that Ye had failed to take any further action since filing the suit, and had ceased communication with his Australian lawyers, as reported by News.com.au. Pictured is the cover art for Ye’s The College Dropout album
Ye originally sent a cease-and-desist letter to the restaurant in June after learning of the similarities.
The hitmaker took issue with the name of the restaurant, as it is the same one used on his first album and complained about the titles of several menu items.
Mr Elkhouri has always insisted his business made it clear the restaurant was not associated with the artist.
The hitmaker took issue with the name of the restaurant, as it is the same one used on his first album and complained about the titles of several menu items
‘Gold Digger’ and ‘Good Morning’ were among some of the burger meals that had the same name as the songs produced by Ye.
A mural of Ye was also painted at the front of the store while the old logo of the restaurant was inspired by the rapper’s ‘dropout bear’ design – an anthropomorphic teddy bear that featured heavily in promotional imagery for his College Dropout album.
Mr Elkhouri filed a defence in November claiming there were clear disclaimers on the website that West had no association to the restaurant.
Ye launched legal proceedings on October 21 2022, opposing the trademark registration of College Dropout Burgers on the grounds of ‘misleading or deceptive conduct’
‘We have no association with Ye (formerly known as @kanyewest),’ the disclaimer read.
‘The College Dropout BurgersTM name references both Ye’s first album, as well as our origins as a business that started on a university campus here in Melbourne.
‘We are fans of Ye (FKA Kanye West) and his work. We pay homage to him with the names of some of our dishes, but of course he has no association with our business.’
A mural of Ye was also painted at the front of the store while the old logo of the restaurant was inspired by the rapper’s ‘dropout bear’ design – an anthropomorphic teddy bear that featured heavily in promotional imagery for his College Dropout album
The burger joint opened up in May 2021 and received a cease and desist letter from West in June 2022.
Mr Elkhouri painted over the mural of West, changed the names of the burgers and changed the store logo.
He kept the name of the restaurant as it was also an homage to himself due to him dropping out of university (or college) to start the business.
The restaurant continues to serve food named after other well-known college dropouts like Mark Zuckerburg, Brad Pitt and Bill Gates.
The restaurant continues to serve food named after other well-known college dropouts like Mark Zuckerburg, Brad Pitt and Bill Gates
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