GRAHAM BONNET Threatened With Lawsuit Over Use Of ALCATRAZZ Name

Former ALCATRAZZ members Jimmy Waldo (keyboards),Gary Shea (bass) and Jan Uvena (drums) have sent a "cease-and-desist" letter to the group's singer, Graham Bonnet, requesting that he stop calling his new band ALCATRAZZ in violation of their intellectual property rights. An excerpt from the letter, dated May 23, 2007, follows:

"[Jimmy Waldo, Gary Shea and Jan Uvena] are original members of the band ALCATRAZZ and have registered the trademark for the band name with the United States Patent and Trademark Office.

"The fact that you would attempt to hold yourself and your new band members out as 'ALCATRAZZ' reflects both a remarkable hubris and also an utter disregard of trademark law.

"For years, Waldo, Shea and Uvena have performed and sold albums as members of the band ALCATRAZZ. They have never transferred to you any rights in the name ALCATRAZZ, nor are you the registered owner of the trademark. Your recent actions — including, but not limited to, the scheduling of tour dates under the name ALCATRAZZ — infringe Waldo, Shea and Uvena's trademarks in the name ALCATRAZZ, unfairly compete with Waldo, Shea and Uvena and otherwise violate, tarnish and dilute Waldo, Shea and Uvena's intellectual property rights. The deliberate reference by your employees and representatives to ALCATRAZZ when they know the references to be untrue makes such unauthorized use willful as a matter of law.

"You have no right to claim that your band is ALCATRAZZ. You toured for years under your own name and then under various other band names. Whether those marketing efforts failed because of a lack of talent or fan appreciation is irrelevant. You are not legally entitled to take the name of one of your former bands and announce to the public that ALCATRAZZ is touring again. It is not. You and some hired cohorts are, and are calling yourselves ALCATRAZZ merely to capitalize on fan appreciation and goodwill associated with that name. By doing so, you and your band members have created and continue to create consumer confusion about the origin or sponsorship of your 'product.' If it is not stopped, you are your band members will be sued. It's that simple."

The new "ALCATRAZZ" is scheduled to perform tonight (Friday, May 25) at Paladino's in Tarzana, California. Bonnet is joined in the new group by guitarist Howie Simon, drummer Glen Sobel and bassist Tim Luce. A short Japanese tour will take place next week.

Bonnet's "ALCATRAZZ" is is currently writing material for a new CD, to be released later in 2007. The band's live show will reportedly incorporate all the ALCATRAZZ classics, as well as highlights from Graham Bonnet's years with RAINBOW, MSG and IMPELLITTERI.