More pop litigation for you. One of founders of Jefferson Airplane (later Jefferson Starship, of course) is being sued by a former bandmate and manager over allegations he is in breach of a previous agreement regarding the use of the former band's various trademarks.
Paul Kantner is being sued by singer Grace Slick and former manager Bill Thompson, the former being the majority shareholder in Jefferson Starship Inc, which controls many of the trademarks associated with the band. In a 1985 agreement, Kantner agreed to not use the names 'Jefferson', 'Airplane' or 'Jefferson Starship' in any of his future projects.
As a result Kantner used the word 'Starship' in isolation, touring through the nineties as Paul Kantner's Starship (while another former Jefferson Starship vocalist Mickey Thomas toured as Mickey Thomas' Starship). Kantner's use of the 'Starship' name in isolation, while seemingly technically in compliance with the 1985 agreement, was arguably not in the spirit of that contract, though no legal action was taken against him until 2000, and then because he used the 'Airplane' name for a tour with the other co-founder of the original band, Marty Balin.
But now it seems that Slick and Thompson do object to Kantner's use of the 'Starship' name, even in isolation. The action seems to have been taken because Kantner recently entered into a deal with Microsoft which saw the IT firm sponsor four free Kantner dates under the Starship banner. Slick and Thompson, it seems, were willing to tolerate Kantner's use of 'Starship' for small scale touring purposes, but not for major brand funded initiatives. The fact Microsoft used an image of the original band that included Slick for their publicity probably also pissed the plaintiffs off a bit.
Now Slick and Thompson, via Jefferson Starship Inc, are suing for $750,000, even though Kantner insists his new band only received $100,000 from Microsoft. Whether the courts will find in favour of Slick and Thompson given how long Kantner has used the 'Starship' name without action being taken remains to be seen.