Joey Ramone’s brother sues Johnny Ramone’s widow for trademark infringement for using the Ramones name
The battle between Joey Ramone’s brother Mitchel Hyman (better known as Mickey Leigh) and Johnny Ramone’s widow Linda Cummings-Ramone continues, with the latest court documents filed by Mickey.
In documents filed in New York Friday, Mickey’s lawyers argue Linda’s violating federal trademark law by using the Ramones name, since Johnny’s real last name wasn’t Ramone.
The suit describes Linda as a “former Ramones groupie” who “has had an insatiable personal desire to shine a spotlight on herself,” adding she’s been “riding on the coattails of the Ramones.”
The suit calls out her use of the Ramones name, especially since it wasn’t any of the band members’ real last names, noting, “’Linda Ramone’ never existed while her husband, John Cummings (p/k/a Johnny Ramone) was alive.”
“Ms. Cummings-Ramone has made and continues to make blatant attempts to exploit and personally capitalize on and benefit from the name, goodwill and legacy of the Ramones — that is, to try to push the false narrative that she is the heiress to … the Ramones’ legacy,” the document reads. “She most certainly is not. She is nothing more than a blatant self-promoter and an infringer.”
Mickey is suing Linda for trademark infringement, trademark dilution and unfair competition.
Linda was the first to file a lawsuit in the battle between the pair. In January, she sued Mickey over a variety of issues, including what she called an “unapproved and unauthorized Ramones-based biopic” based on Mickey’s memoir, I Slept with Joey Ramone, referring to Netflix’s planned movie starring Pete Davidson as Joey.
Mickey responded by saying the claims were “baseless,” since she had agreed to the movie in March 2006, adding it was “not a ‘Ramones biopic’ but rather one based on a family memoir.”
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