One Direction Countersue One Direction

Simon Cowell fights back against U.S. band that says they had the band name first.
By Jocelyn Vena

Simon Cowell
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Nobody puts the British One Direction in a corner! The boy band's boss, Simon Cowell, is countersuing the American band that filed a suit against the chart-topping Brits back in April.

According to E! News, Cowell is firing back at the U.S. band who sued his band, alleging that they have "continuously and consistently been utilizing the ONE DIRECTION Mark since ODUK made its public debut on the popular British television program 'The X Factor' in the fall of 2010." The U.S. 1D cites that they formed and named themselves One Direction back in 2009, 12 months before the boy band made their debut on the singing competition show. Cowell filed his countersuit on Thursday.

The American band adds they had already filed a trademark for the name when the U.K. band began making the rounds. They have sued Cowell and his label, SyCo, for $1 million in damages. Cowell's team fired back: "[U.S. One Direction] is guilty of fraud, oppression or malice, and by reason thereof, [U.K. One Direction] are, in addition to their actual damages, entitled to recover punitive damages." Their suit furthers that the U.K. 1D has found "unprecedented success and fame in the United States" and "became the first U.K. musical act to have a debut album enter the U.S. Billboard chart at No.1."

According to The Hollywood Reporter, Cowell and his team claim that the U.S. band knew about his band when they formed, noting that they should check their timeline again. "For example, reference was made to ODUK on Nov. 28, 2010, in postings on the 'OneDirectionUSA' Facebook page (established by Third Party Defendants after the creation of ODUK's own, highly popular Facebook page)," Cowell's suit notes.

The U.S. band's attorney, Peter Ross, spoke to THR, adding, "It looks like we got defendants' attention. This is the response we expected, given who we're up against. An effort is being made to intimidate these young men from California. Our clients believe in their case and will not be deterred."

Shortly after the first suit was filed against ODUK, fans began to weigh in with name suggestions for the floppy-haired fivesome. Such cheeky names as FU1 Direction and 5 UK White Boys made the final cut, per fans.

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