Guess Who Bandmates Settle Their Long-Running Trademark Dispute

Members of the Canadian rock band The Guess Who have settled a trademark dispute over use of the band’s name and allegations that two of the bandmates had deceptively passed off a cover band as the original group.

The plaintiffs in the suit, Burton Cummings and Randolph Charles “Randy” Bachman, acquired “The Guess Who” trademark as part of the terms of the settlement, the two sides jointly announced in a Sept. 4 statement.

Other settlement details remain confidential, the statement said. The lawsuit’s docket had not yet been updated with the settlement notice as of Wednesday afternoon.

“We are pleased to have reached a resolution that honors our shared history and allows us to move forward with a new sense of purpose and camaraderie,” said Bachman in the statement.

The 1960s and 70s-era band recorded a string of hits including “American Woman,” “These Eyes,” and “She’s Come Undone.” Bachman was later part of Bachman-Turner Overdrive, whose signature songs included “Takin’ Care of Business” and “You Ain’t Seen Nothin’ Yet.”

Cummings and Bachman alleged in an October 2023 suit filed in US District Court for the Central District of California, that their fellow former bandmates, Garry Peterson and Jim Kale, secretly formed a partnership without including them. Cummings and Bachman also claimed that Peterson and Kale had been “exploiting” the band’s name.

According to the complaint, in 1996, more than a decade after Kale was kicked out of the group, he had “assigned his purported rights” in the trademark registration to a partnership he formed with Peterson. “He applied for and obtained a federal registration of THE GUESS WHO covering entertainment services,” the first amended complaint said.

The complaint had sought damages in excess of $20 million, as well as restitution and injunctive relief.

Counsel for Bachman and Cummings, and for Kale and Peterson did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Fross Zelnick Lehrman and Zissu PC and Harder Stonerock LLP represent Bachman and Cummings. Proskauer Rose LLP represent Kale, Peterson, and The Guess Who.

The case is Cummings v. Kale, C.D. Cal., No. 23-09130, Docket 9/4/24