GEOFF TATE Is 'Looking Forward' To Settling Legal Battle Over Rights To QUEENSRŸCHE Name

Singer Geoff Tate — who was fired from the Seattle progressive rock band QUEENSRŸCHE in 2012 after fronting it for three decades — told the Chicago Sun-Times that long-term plans for his version of the group are up in the air.

"Everything's kind of been on hold while we finish up our court case and everything, which we hope we'll finish up at the end of January," Tate said. "We're just in the final stages of trying to work out settlements now."

He added: "For me at least, the last year and a half has been quite a difficult time. I'm looking forward to it being settled and moving on."

According to Tate, QUEENSRŸCHE fans have continued to support his version of the band throughout the court proceedings.

"People have been very supportive, which is wonderful," he said. "It has been a difficult time, not just for me, but for fans of the band and music, to go through this kind of thing is very rough."

Asked if there are plans for him to release a follow-up to the 2013 album by his version of QUEENSRŸCHE, "Frequency Unknown", Tate said after settlement talks have concluded, the band can start making plans. He added that it will be nice to have the case over and to move on from what has been a "consuming situation."

"Everything's kind of been hold here waiting the final court date to see what we can do next," he said. "Everything has to come to a halt touring-wise here by the end of January until the court date. Then we can start making plans after that. Of course I'll announce more stuff at that time."

Late last month, Tate and his former bandmates requested more time to hammer out a settlement in their legal battle over the rights to the group's name.

King County Superior Court Judge Beth Andrus signed a new stipulation and order continuing trial date, allowing the parties three more weeks to come to an agreement over the use of the QUEENSRŸCHE name and its associated trademarks. If they cannot reach an agreement during that period, the trial is set to begin on March 3, or the earliest date thereafter that is convenient for the Court.

Tate and his former bandmates previously requested two additional weeks in January to work on the details of their settlement agreement.

Tate and his wife, Susan, QUEENSRŸCHE's former manager, filed a lawsuit in June 2012 asking the judge to award them the rights to the band's name in exchange for Tate paying Eddie Jackson (bass),Michael Wilton (guitar) and Scott Rockenfield (drums) the fair market value for their interests in the QUEENSRŸCHE companies. Wilton, Rockenfield and Jackson filed a countersuit against the Tates in which they accused Geoff of creative obstruction and violent behavior, and Susan Tate of questionable business practices.

While ruling against Tate, the presiding judge determined that there was no legal hurdle in Tate also using the name with an all-new lineup of musicians. "I don't see any reason that Mr. Tate can't have the benefit, if he gets other members, of whatever name he uses of using the brand," Superior Court Judge Carol A. Schapira said during the July 13, 2012 court hearing. "I think [doing that would be] inherently confusing, although I'm sure the market can get these things sorted out," she added.

Wilton, Rockenfield and Jackson last year accused Geoff Tate of "continu[ing] to harm the QUEENSRŸCHE brand" since the Tates' original lawsuit was filed in June 2012. In a court document, they wrote: "The newest self-titled QUEENSRŸCHE CD release by the [Todd La Torre-fronted version of the band] entered the U.S. charts at #23 and continues to get 9-out-of-10-star reviews and is still selling very well on a weekly basis around the globe. In comparison, Geoff Tate released his own QUEENSRŸCHE CD in April of [2013] titled 'Frequency Unknown' and depicted as F.U. on the cover, which entered the charts at #82, received very bad reviews around the world, and has slowed to almost no more weekly sales. [The Todd La Torre-fronted version of QUEENSRŸCHE's] new CD even outperformed the last two CDs of them with Geoff Tate, selling more in a month than the 'Dedicated to Chaos' CD has since its release in 2010, and charting much better than both that album and the previous one, 'American Soldier'. Thus, the return to the classic sound [Tate's former] bandmates have made with the new CD and live shows has been met with overwhelming success."

They added: "Geoff Tate also chose very poorly in hiring live musicians that have shown that they are not capable of representing the correct performances of the QUEENSRŸCHE music legacy, and he was constantly replacing them. He has been offering his low-quality version of QUEENSRŸCHE to the promoters at a much reduced rate, as low as $10,000 per night, when, in fact, [his former] bandmates have done their best to keep the authorized QUEENSRŸCHE at an average of well over $20,000 per show this entire year. However, this becomes harder and harder with Geoff Tate's sub-par band and cut-rate pricing that continues to be damaging to the QUEENSRŸCHE brand and legacy no matter who ultimately wins control after trial."