"DIARY" OF EVENTS WHICH LED TO NAME CHANGE
Sat 20 Aug 2011: X Factor judges form a new group with Perrie Edwards, Jesy Nelson, Leigh-Anne Pinnock, Jade Thirlwall
(see X Factor 2011 bootcamp) (ITV X Factor. 24 Sep 2011)
early Sep 2011: Rhythmix, with Perrie, Jesy, Leigh-Anne, Jade, perform at Judge`s House and put through to "live" shows
(see X Factor 2011 Judges` Houses) (ITV X Factor. 1 Oct 2011)
Fri 23 Sep 2011: Simco Ltd submit application to trademark name
Rhythmix in Europe with Office for Harmonization in the Internal
Market. (OHIM website http://esearch.oami.europa.eu/copia/trademark/data/01028843).
Sat 1 Oct 2011: ITV X Factor screens group, named Rhythmix, performing at Judges` House. (ITV X Factor. 1 Oct 2011).
Sun 2 Oct 2011: Lucy Stone, consultant to Rhythmix charity, contacts X
Factor to ask "do you realise this is the name of a music
education
charity working with vulnerable people?" (BBC News. 7 Oct 2011).
Fri 7 Oct 2011: X Factor spokesperson comments, "The
charity in question have trademarked the name Rhythmix for educational
purposes only, which is not in conflict with the band or the show." (BBC News. 7 Oct 2011).
Fri 14 Oct 2011: According to Rhythmix charity, Simco and other parties
connected with X Factor are to have an urgent meeting to
discuss the
situation. (Rhythmix charity. Facebook. 24 Oct 2011).
Mon 24 Oct 2011: Rhythmix charity receives letter from
legal representatives for TV programme claiming more time is needed to
consider position. (Rhythmix charity. Facebook. 24 Oct 2011).
Wed 26 Oct 2011: Mark Davyd, chief executive of Rhythmix
charity, writes open letter on Facebook to Simon Cowell, ending with:
"we are personally asking you to sort this problem out in the quickest
and simplest way. Just change the name."
(Rhythmix charity. Facebook. 26 Oct 2011)
X Factor producers issue a statement: "At the request of the charity
Rhythmix, the members of the girl group
Rhythmix have decided to change
their name, a decision which has the support of Syco and Talkback Thames.
The group`s new name will be announced in due course." (BBC Radio 1 Newsbeat. 26 Oct 2011).
Lawyers for X Factor write to Rhythmix charity offering to give them the trademark, but charity refuses it.
(The Guardian. 9 Nov 2011).
Fri 28 Oct 2011: the group formerly named Rhythmix, wrote on the newly created Little Mix Facebook page:
"We`re really excited to announce that as of now our new name is Little Mix! We came up with the name with Tulisa
and we love it - hope our Little Mixers like it too! When we came up with the name Rhythmix, we had no idea that
there was a charity with the same name. We decided to change our name to Little Mix as we do not want to
cause
any problems for the charity, and we`re happy that this has now been resolved. We`re the same girls as we`ve
always been and we want to thank all of our fans for their continued support for us. We came up with some ideas
for our new name which we discussed with Tulisa and she had some ideas too. We all agreed on Little Mix as it just
felt right" (Little Mix. Facebook. 28 Oct 2011. 06.26am).
Sat 29 Oct 2011: Name change from Rhythmix announced on X Factor "live" show Week 4. Tulisa introduces Little
Mix.
(ITV X Factor. 29 Oct 2011)
But the dispute did not end there.
Tue 8 Nov 2011: Mark Davyd, chief executive of Rhythmix charity, posts
"Another open letter to Simon Cowell" on Facebook,
re-iterring his comments
in the previous open letter on Facebook to Simon Cowell, and adds "as of 8 November,
Simco are still seeking to exclusively trademark the name Rhythmix... There can be only
two reasons for this
1) Simco intend to change the name of the band back
at some future date, or 2) Simco and/or its legal
representatives want to use their control of the identity to force the charity to accept
terms and conditions before
permitting the Charity to continue to
trade..." (Rhythmix charity. Facebook. 8 Nov 2011).
Wed 9 Nov 2011: X Factor spokesperson tells Radio Times,
"Yesterday`s open letter from the Rhythmix charity is not accurate.
In
fact, on 26 October, lawyers acting for Little Mix wrote, with Syco`s
approval, to the charity, offering to give them
the trademark, but the
charity did not accept the offer and specifically asked that the
trademark application should
not be withdrawn." (Radio Times. 9 Nov 2011).
Mark Davyd, chief executive of Rhythmix charity, is quoted in The Guardian, that the charity turned down the initial
offer as it "included strict conditions which
meant that we could not talk about the conduct of the X Factor."
(The Guardian. 9 Nov 2011).
Syco withdraw trademark application and issue a statement: "Syco are happy to withdraw the application for the
trademark, as initially offered at the time of the name change to
Little Mix. We conclude this matter is closed"
(The Guardian. 9 Nov 2011)
Fri 11 Nov 2011: Rhythmix charity posts on its Facebook page,
"Rhythmix (charity) is launching #CowellMustPay social media
campaign to help raise money towards the £8000 legal fees incurred to
date... We call on X Factor viewers to
text
to help Rhythmix (charity) in lieu of their usual text vote
for X Factor`s acts" (Rhythmix charity. Facebook. 11 Nov 2011).
Fri 18 Nov 2011: Simco sends letter to Office for Harmonization
in the Internal Market withdrawing application to trade mark name
Rhythmix (OHIM website http://esearch.oami. europa.eu/ copia/trademark/data/01028843).
Agreement is reached between Mark Davyd, chief executive of Rhythmix charity, and Syco. Syco donates
an undisclosed amount to Rhythmix charity. (Daily Mail. 21 Nov 2011).
Sun 20 Nov 2011: Mark Davyd, chief executive of Rhythmix charity,
states, "We are very pleased this has been brought to an
amicable
conclusion... we have been able to reach an agreement with Syco to
put this matter behind us."
(Independent on Sunday. 20 Nov 2011).
Mon 21 Nov 2011: BBC News reports
Syco are "happy to make the donation to the charity (Rhythmix)" and Syco and Rhythmix
charity have stated that the situation has been "positively resolved." (BBC News. 21 Nov 2011).
