Further to that report that Yoko Ono was suing that musician called Lennon Murphy for performing under the name Lennon, Ono's people have released a statement refuting the allegation. As you'll remember, Ms Murphy claimed that she had consulted Ono when she began performing under her given name, and the former Mrs Lennon had made no objections, but that suddenly, eight years later, had served her with a lawsuit accusing her of causing confusion in the marketplace and suchlike.
However, the Ono camp say that this is not the case. The statement agrees that Ono made no objection to Murphy's pursuing a musical career using the name (presumably because it's legally Murphy's name). What seems to be the problem is not the fact that Murphy is using the name Lennon, but that she applied to the US trademarks office for the exclusive right to use the name. According to the statement, Ono's attorneys asked Murphy to withdraw her registration of exclusivity, and even offered to cover the costs Murphy had incurred in filing for the trademark, but that Murphy went ahead and registered.
The statement says: "Yoko did not sue Lennon Murphy, but sought to stop her from getting the exclusive right to the name Lennon for performance purposes. For that, Yoko's attorneys simply notified the Trademark office that Yoko did not believe it was fair that Ms Murphy be granted the exclusive right to the 'Lennon' trademark in relation to musical and entertainment services. As you can see, this is a very important issue for Yoko and the Lennon family".
Yoko adds: "I am really hurt if people thought that I told a young artist to not use her own name in her performances and had sought to sue her. I did no such thing. I hope this allegation will be cleared".