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Lady Gaga’s “Mayhem” tour has sparked legal trouble. In this episode of The Briefing, Scott Hervey and James Kachmar analyze a trademark infringement lawsuit filed by surf brand, Lost International, which claims Gaga’s use of “Mayhem” on merchandise violates their long-standing rights. The discussion explores the strength of Lost’s trademark, the likelihood of consumer confusion, and key legal takeaways for brands navigating crowded trademark landscapes.
Watch this episode on the Weintraub YouTube channel.
Show Notes:
Scott:
Lady Gaga brought her Mayhem tour to the 2025 Coachella Music Festival. While her performance was a critical success, there is someone who is not a fan of hers. At a minimum, not a fan of the name she chose for her tour. I’m Scott Hervey, a partner at the law firm of Weintraub Tobin, and I’m joined today by my partner, James Kachmar. We’re going to talk about the trademark lawsuit filed by the surf and lifestyle brand Lost International against Lady Gaga for her use of Mayhem on today’s episode of the Briefing.
James, welcome back to the Briefing. It’s been a while.
James: Yes, thanks for having me back, Scott. Like you, I’ve been following this Lady Gaga case, and it certainly raises some interesting trademark law questions.
Scott: Oh, absolutely, absolutely. So why don’t we start with the basics? So, according to the complaint, Lost International, they’re a California company that was established in 1985 as a surf and lifestyle brand. They claim to have been using the mark mayhem since 1988 in connection with surfboards, surf equipment, accessories, surf videos, and clothing. Lost owns a registered trademark for Mayhem in the United States, and it was issued on August 11, 2015, and it covers various clothing items like beanies, caps, jackets, pants, sandals, shorts, and, you know, other typical beach surf wear. This particular trademark registration is for a wordmark, which means that it covers the word Mayhem without having any particular font, style or color requirements.
James: That’s right, Scott. The complaint alleges that Lady Gaga released a music album called mayhem in March 2025 and announced a worldwide concert tour under the same name. Furthermore, Lost claims that prior to the album’s release, Lady Gaga and associated parties began selling T shirts and other clothing items with the Mayhem mark prominently displayed, allegedly with a nearly identical design to Lost’s own Mayhem products. They’ve even included a side by side comparison of the clothing and their Mayhem logos in their complaint.
Scott: So LOST is seeking some significant remedies.
James: Yes, they are. Lost is asking the court for a judgment that Lady Gaga has infringed their trademark rights. They are seeking monetary damages and also want an accounting of Lady Gaga’s proceeds, which will result in a possible disgorgement of her profits. They want punitive and exemplary damages, interest costs, and attorney’s fees. Lost is also crucially seeking injunctive relief to stop Lady Gaga from using the Mayhem mark in connection with her merchandise and promotions.
Scott: Okay, so let’s dive into the legal arguments. So the complaint asserts nine causes of action. Nothing like a big complaint, right? So these. These causes of Action include federal and common law trademark infringement, false designation of origin, and false advertising under the Lanham act, false advertising under California state law, and federal and state trademark dilution, as well as unfair business practices and common law unfair competition. So I think that the federal trademark claim is going to take center stage in this lawsuit, so let’s focus on that. So in California, a court analyzing a trademark infringement claim is going to look at the sleek craft factors, which are the following. The strength of the plaintiff’s mark, the similarity of the marks at issue, the similarity or relatedness of the goods, the similarity of the marketing channels for those goods, the degree of care likely to be exercised by the consumer of those goods, any evidence of actual confusion, the defendant’s intent in selecting the mark, and likelihood of expansion of the product lines.
James: Yes, that’s right, Scott. So why don’t we start at the top? Let’s look at the strength of Lost mark.
Scott: Great. Yeah. Okay, So I think Lost has a strong mark. Lost as a federal trademark, registration for Mayhem as a word mark in connection with clothing. The registration provides them with certain presumptions of ownership. The right to use the mark nationwide in connection with the goods, and because it’s on the principal register, the fact that the mark is distinctive, the mark has become incontestable, and they seem to have a long history of using the mark since 1988 in connection with clothing.
James: Okay, Scott, but let me play devil’s advocate here. There are many other federally registered trademarks for clothing that include mayhem, which suggests that the term mayhem might not be exclusively associated with Lost in the broader marketplace, and this potentially weakens their claim to having exclusive rights to that mark.
Scott: Yes, but those other trademarks include Mayhem with some other words like Miami Mayhem or Mayhem on the mat, and that’s significant.
James: Yes.
Scott: Now, James, you have to agree with me that the next two factors, similarity of the marks and relatedness of the goods, tend to favor a finding of infringement.
James: Let’s hear your argument on that, Scott.
Scott: Okay, so determining similarity of the marks involves comparing the the appearance, sound, and meaning of the two marks. Lost complaint emphasizes that the mark Mayhem is identical on both Lady Gaga’s merchandise and Lost merchandise, as we saw above, and that the stylized form, as we saw, is substantially similar, if not nearly identical. And as for the goods at issue, Lady Gaga is selling T shirts and other items of clothing with the mark prominently displayed on it, with, as the complaint alleges, and as we saw, a nearly identical design as used by Lost on its own products. The same type of goods for which LOST has a registered trademark.
James: I’m not sure I agree with you, Scott, because I went on Lady Gaga’s website and the uses of Mayhem that I see are used as part of a multi word mark such as I am mayhem and mayhem in the desert. And I think that may go into this analysis as well. Now, why don’t we talk about the channels of trade, because I think loss claim has some real problems here. So this factor examines how and where the respective goods and services are advertised and sold. Loss claims their products have been and are likely to be marketed in the same or similar stores, channels or outlets, and advertising similar media, and that both parties use the Internet for marketing. I don’t know how accurate this is given that it’s just alleged in the complaint. The Lady Gaga website specifically says that the Mayhem merchandise was available at the festival. Fans buying Lady Gaga merchandise at Coachella or even through her website are not going to confuse it with Loss or with a surf and lifestyle apparel product. The core of the trademark infringement claim, I think, is really going to come down to demonstrating a likelihood of consumer confusion as to the source of the product.
James: And if Loss cannot sufficiently prove this confusion, I think their claim may fail.
Scott: It is true that courts do not treat the Internet as a single undifferentiated channel of trade, and they do look at how and and where on the Internet goods and services are sold or marketed and to whom. And I think it’s the to whom where Lost has a good claim. I think it’s fair to assume a significant overlap between consumers of Lost clothing and fans of Lady Gaga. And I’m sure we are going to see evidence of that introduced in this case.
James: That’s right, Scott. I mean, proof of this overlap will come out in discovery and usually it’s through competing survey evidence. While Lost alleges, without any support in its complaints, that the use of the mark by Lady Gaga has led to instances of actual confusion in the marketplace among or by members of the consuming public. If survey evidence shows that a LOST consumer is not a Lady Gaga listener, they may have trouble establishing an overlapping consumer base.
Scott: Since the last factor expansion of the product lines will probably not play a significant role here. Let’s talk about the intent of the defendant in selecting and using this mark. So this will consider whether the defendant, Lady Gaga, adopted the mark with the intent of trading on Lost goodwill. Lost alleges that Lady Gaga appropriated the name and identifiable logo Mayhem to identify similar products. Even though Lady Gaga, at least LOST is alleging, is well aware of that Lost owns the mark and that this was done to derive benefit from the reputation of Lost Mark. And further, knowing and intending to cause a likelihood of confusion and loss doesn’t.
James: Offer any grounds supporting this claim that Lady Gaga was aware of their mark.
Scott: Well, you know as well as I do that they don’t have to do that at the complaint stage, James, but I’m sure this will all play out in discovery that Gaga’s team was aware of Lost Mark. I think it’s fairly safe to assume that Gaga’s team ran a trademark search before search report before selecting this mark. And if they did, they certainly would have seen Lost Mark. Let’s briefly touch on some of the other claims. So, regarding false advertising, Right. Lost argues that Lady Gaga’s use of Mayhem falsely suggest an affiliation, connection or sponsorship with Lost for trademark dilution. They contend that Lady Gaga’s use impairs the distinctiveness of their famous Mayhem mark.
James: Right. And the success of these claims generally hinges on the strength and fame of the original mark and the likelihood of blurring or tarnishing, which again ties back to the distinctiveness and exclusivity of of Mayhem in the marketplace. Given the number of other Mayhem trademarks, proving their mark is famous and distinctive in the legal sense for dilution purposes might be challenging.
Scott: So what’s your overall take on the strength of Lost’s case?
James: Well, I think while Lost has a registered trademark and a long history of use, the existence of numerous other Mayhem trademarks and the likely different trade channels for Lady Gaga’s merchandise may present significant hurdles to lust. The strongest part of their argument likely lies in the direct overlap of using a similar logo on clothing.
Scott: Right, but that factor may be complicated by the other clothing related mayhem marks and the inability to establish overlapping channels of trade or consumers.
James: Yes. So, Scott, are there any practical takeaways from this case for businesses and individuals regarding products like this?
Scott: Yeah, that’s a great question, James. There are. So this case shows the importance of trademark registration, right? Lost International’s lawsuit heavily relies on its ownership of a federally registered trademark from Mayhem. This registration provides them with certain legal presumptions and rights. The fact that LOST registered the mark in 2015 and even filed a declaration of incontestability in 2021 highlights the proactive steps a business can take in protecting their brand names. Registering your trademark provides a strong legal basis for infringement claims.
James: Yes. And context matters in trademark use. Lost registration for clothing would generally not automatically block Lady Gaga from using Mayhem for her album and tour titles. This indicates that the context in which a mark is used is crucial. Using a similar mark in a completely unrelated industry or for a different type of product or service may not necessarily constitute infringement due to a likelihood or a lower likelihood of consumer confusion.
Scott: That’s right. One caveat though, that might constitute trademark dilution depending upon whether or not that first mark is a famous trademark. Here’s another pointer. A crowded trademark landscape can make it more difficult to claim infringement and establish the strength of your mark. The fact that there are other active trademarks involving mayhem for clothing could really weaken lost claim of exclusivity. This underscores the importance of conducting a thorough trademark search before adopting a brand name.
James: Those are really good points, Scott. Thanks for having me on this podcast.
Scott: Yeah, good to have you, James. And that’s all for today’s episode of the Briefing. Thanks to James for joining me today, and thank you, the listener or viewer, for tuning in. We hope you found this episode informative and enjoyable, and if you did, please remember to subscribe. Leave us a review and share this episode with your friends and colleagues. And if you have any questions or comments about the topics we cover today, please leave us a comment.