A judge has thrown out a trademark lawsuit over Chris Brown’s Breezy Bowl XX tour after two different lawyers quit on the plaintiff, a Miami-based retailer called Breezy Swim.
Breezy Swim filed a Florida federal court complaint in July, just as Brown was beginning the U.S. leg of his worldwide Breezy Bowl XX stadium tour. The swim brand claimed Brown’s tour merch infringed its trademarks and that the show’s title was confusing fans of its own annual runway show, also known as the “Breezy Bowl.”
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But in September, Breezy Swim’s original lawyer, John Hoover, withdrew after citing a “fundamental breakdown” in communications and “irreconcilable differences” with the company’s leadership. Breezy Swim then hired a new attorney, Lorri Lomnitzer, but she, too, left the case in December due to her own “irreconcilable differences” with the client.
Corporate entities are not allowed to represent themselves in court, and Judge Beth Bloom warned last month that the lawsuit would be axed unless Breezy Swim found another lawyer. Per a Tuesday (Jan. 27) court order, the company did not heed that warning.
“The court provided notice that failure to obtain counsel would result in an order of dismissal,” wrote Judge Bloom. “As such, the matter is dismissed without prejudice.”
The “without prejudice” language in the judge’s order means the claims could theoretically be refiled in the future. Breezy Swim’s CEO, Kris Izquierdo, did not immediately return a request for comment on Tuesday, nor did a rep for Brown.
Brown was never served with the lawsuit, so he did not file any court papers responding to the allegations. But Breezy Swim also named Live Nation, Merch Traffic and Shopify as defendants, and those entities all vehemently denied the claims in legal filings.
Live Nation and its subsidiary Merch Traffic, which handled merchandise for the Breezy Bowl tour, wrote in a November answering brief that Brown is clearly the one who has given “commercial value” to the name “Breezy.”
“Brown has been internationally known as ‘Breezy’ since the 2010 release of the song, ‘Ms. Breezy,’” wrote Live Nation’s attorney, James Sammataro. “Plaintiff does not possess a federal trademark. Notwithstanding this irrefutable reality, plaintiff erroneously claims exclusive rights to the term, ‘Breezy Bowl’ and seeks to recover exorbitant monetary damages from the sale of concert tickets and official tour merchandise that unmistakably features Chris Brown’s name and likeness.”
Shopify, which facilitated sales of Brown’s tour merch online, made similar arguments in a December motion to dismiss: “Breezy Swimwear has failed to allege any facts demonstrating that Shopify had actual or constructive knowledge that Breezy Swimwear had an enforceable common law trademark,” wrote the e-commerce service’s lawyer, Nathan Berman.
Brown wrapped the Breezy Bowl tour in October after earning nearly $300 million and selling just under two million tickets across 49 shows in Europe and North America, making it the highest-grossing and best-selling tour of his career.
