Battle of a band name

VOLUMIA! the band

VOLUMIA! was a Dutch pop band that was active between 1992 and 2002. The face of the group was lead singer and pianist, Xander de Buisonjé.

Volumia! started off as a cover band, but went on to become a well-known Dutch band that wrote its own songs. It scored massive hits, selling almost 1 million CDs in total. In 2002 the band broke up.

VOLUMIA! the trademark

For a long time, the trademark rights to VOLUMIA! were held by Music Creations Publishing B.V. According to the records of the Chamber of Commerce, Nieskens, the former manager of VOLUMIA! is a director of this company.

In recent years, both Music Creations Publishing and Bizon Musical Creations B.V. (a company that belongs to Buisonjé) have filed trademark applications. However, the oldest rights in the register were still held by the private limited company of which Nieskens is a director.

Is the trademark in use?

Due to the requirement of use, a trademark must be actively utilised within five years of its registration. If, after the expiration of this five-year period, the trademark remains unused or has not been used for a consecutive five-year period, a third party may assert that the trademark rights have lapsed. This is precisely the situation that occurred with the VOLUMIA! trademark registrations.

Cancellation

On 25 June, the Benelux Office, acting upon a request filed by the company of Xander de Buisonjé, ordered the cancellation of three Benelux registrations of VOLUMIA held by Music Creations Publishing on the grounds that these trademarks had not been put to sufficient commercial use during the past five years.

Music Creations claimed that they had been used, as it is still possible to listen to VOLUMIA!’s music on a range of streaming platforms, and the website www.volumia.com was also live during this period.

In disagreement with the argument put forward by Music Creations, the Benelux Office for Intellectual Property found that the fact that music made by the band VOLUMIA! is still available is not proof of the existence of services related to a pop and party band. According to the Office, there have been no performances, nor has music been disseminated or released under the trademark VOLUMIA! in recent years. Any distribution was the work of various music platforms, not of the trademark owner.

The cancellation of the three Benelux trademarks was therefore granted. Although it is still possible to appeal to the Benelux Court of Justice, it seems as if Xander de Buisonjé has suddenly become the owner of the oldest trademark rights in Benelux. Time for a reunion!