Last month, Joe Krause of Jenkintown took Jon Bon Jovi to Common Pleas Court, accusing the rocker and his partners at the Philadelphia Soul Arena Football League team of not paying him nearly $125,000 in wages and commissions after the league went on hold.
Yesterday, Bon Jovi’s lawyers went to U.S. District Court to claim that Krause, the Soul’s former sales manager, used the Soul trademark for himself -- even making and selling his own version of Soul championship rings, allegedly infringing on a design that Bon Jovi himself copyrighted.
JBJ's suit says Krause organized events last month in Reading to sell rings to Soul fans for $275 a pop. The unauthorized events had been advertised first under the name “Lost Souls” and later as “A Night to Remember,” the suit says, adding that appearances by a coach and cheerleaders had been advertised.
The suit attached renditions of both designs:
Bon Jovi’s ring design includes the familiar Soul logo with such inscriptions as “Philadelphia Soul World Champions,” “Arena Bowl New Orleans XXII 2008,” “Soul 59, Cats 56” and “Boom” (a team cheer).
Krause’s design, which does not include the logo or even the word Soul, is inscribed “World Champions,” “PHL,” “ABXXII,” “07-27-08,” “PHL 59, SJS 56,” “16-3” and “BOOM.”
Krause’s attorney, George Bochetto of Bochetto & Lentz, called the suit a “laughably, sick act of retaliation against Mr. Krause for filing a lawsuit — nothing more or less.”
“We disagree,” Bon Jovi attorney Camille M. Miller of Cozen O’Connor told me. “His client used the Philadelphia Soul trademark in connection with marketing and promoting an event. It looked like the Soul was sponsoring the event.”
Meanwhile, if you're a Soul season ticket-holder, please e-mail me at mklein@phillynews.com.
Without the entire story I can only guess that Krause is an opportunist that has gone too far......throw out the law suit! Bon Jovi deserves the revenue for Krause's actions.
Agree with the previous post. Can't imagine why anybody would buy Krause's ring. The Soul and Bon Jovi deserve any profit from their success, not Krause.
With all these hassles that Bon Jovi has to put up with, I wouldn't be surprise if he decide to take the team out of Philly. I hope he doesn't but he doesn't need these people who try to make a profit off of him and then go and sue him. This guy, Joe the bummer, should be sued by Bon Jovi not the other way around.
If anyone had actually read the article, you would see that Bon Jovi screwed Joe out of 150 K for all the hard work he put into that team. The man was present in the office 7 days a week, 15 hours a day. He was always reaching out to fans, doing whatever to ensure happiness and that the team had a sold out stadium. It is sad that he has not been paid for all his hard work. Would you want to work for a year for free?Not seeing your children or wife? No, and nor should he have to just because the team is on hold.
Because your contributions are currently under review, no comments can be made at this time.
Philly.com comments are intended to be civil, friendly conversations. Please treat other participants with respect and in a way that you would want to be treated. You are responsible for what you say. And please, stay on topic.
If you see an objectionable post, please report it to us using the "Report Abuse" button.
More About Philly.com comments.
About your comments: These comments are monitored by Philly.com staff. We reserve the right at all times to remove any information or materials that are unlawful, threatening, abusive, libelous, defamatory, obscene, vulgar, pornographic, profane, indecent or otherwise objectionable.
Personal attacks, especially on other participants, are not permitted. We reserve the right to permanently block any user who violates these terms and conditions.
Why are we asking you to register? We've made some changes to the Philly.com commenting system to increase the quality of the user experience and dialogue, and reduce the number of inappropriate or offensive posts. You're now required to have a registered username and account before adding a comment. This will improve the comments for everyone. We apologize for the inconvenience. Join the conversation!
According to our terms of service, you are not yet of legal age to be able to contribute to this site. Please read our policy.
Account Verification Needed
Thank you for registering!
Please note that your registration will not be considered fully complete until you confirm by following the link we have provided in a confirmation email that was just sent to $cms.subscriptionUser.email.
Until you follow the link in that confirmation email, you may log in but will not be able to comment, so make sure to check your inbox for a message from register@philly.com.
Michael Klein chronicles local people, places and things (in easy-to-digest portions) three days a week in his Inquirer column "INQlings." He also covers the restaurant scene in his Thursday Food column, "Table Talk." See his work at http://www.philly.com/inquirer/columnists/michael_klein.
THINKS THE EAGLES STOLE ONE
