Former Waco Brother Sues NBA Star Kevin Durant Over Use Of Nickname

By Chuck Sudo in News on Jun 21, 2012 9:00PM

Oklahoma City star Kevin Durant takes to the court tonight to try and force a Game 6 of the NBA Finals. Off the court Durant finds himself the subject of a peculiar lawsuit.

Local musician Mark Durante, who's probably best known these days for his work with the Waco Brothers and other Jon Langford projects, filed a lawsuit in federal court for the Northern District of Illinois Wednesday, claiming he long ago trademarked the nickname "Durantula." Durant also happens to use the nickname on his Twitter feed. (Which is worth a follow, by the way, if only because he put out on blast his desire to drink Scarlett Johansson's bath water. We don't blame him.)

Durante is also suing Nike, claiming the shoe giant started using a superhero named "Durantula" in a marketing campaign, and memorabilia company Panini Authentic, which has been selling photographs and basketballs with the "Durantula" inscription.

Durante, who has also played with KMFDM, The Revolting Cocks and The Slammin' Watusis, said he first trademarked "Durantula" in 1993 and has a website with the nickname in the URL. (Note: If you want to see how far web design has progressed from its AOL/Geocities beginnings, visit durantula.com.)

Durante said in the suit that Durant's use of the nickname threatens 20 years of hard-earned marketing. (And yet that website has us questioning how much effort Durante put into the marketing.) Tribune reporter Julie Wermau spoke with Marc Reiner, chair of the intellectual property group at Anderson Kill & Olick. Reiner said there's more to this lawsuit than simply owning a trademark.

"Trademark infringement is unlikely when the first user of the trademark is in music and the second is in sports, even thought there is some overlap between the two forms of entertainment."

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"Nicknames, even those rising to the level of 'marketing identities,' are often not exclusive," he said, "and sometimes more than one entertainer/athlete has the same nicknames."