The complaint alleges the country star’s use of the name causes harm to the band

Jelly Roll, born Jason DeFord, is being sued by a Philadelphia wedding band for trademark infringement. Kurt Titchenell, founder of Jellyroll, “the original Philadelphia Horn Party Band,” has filed a suit in federal court in Pennsylvania, alleging the country star has infringed on the trademark they secured in 2010.

In the suit, Titchenell claims Jellyroll has provided musical and vocal accompaniment for celebratory and charitable events throughout the Northeast since 1980, including two White House appearances during George W. Bush’s tenure. Titchenell alleges DeFord’s use of the name has “caused additional harm” to the band due to DeFord’s “troubled past, which includes a felony conviction and imprisonment” and has hurt their marketing efforts as it “creates confusion in the marketplace,” including an upcoming tour that spans the area.

“Prior to the [DeFord’s] recent rise in notoriety, a search of the name of Jellyroll on most search engines, and particularly Google, returned references to the [Titchenell],” the complaint reads. “Now, any such search on Google returns multiple references to [DeFord], perhaps as many as 18-20 references before any reference to [Titchenell’s] entertainment dance band known as Jellyroll® can be found.”

In the complaint, Titchenell’s attorneys claim “several conversations ensued” after they sent a cease-and-desist letter to DeFord’s management team in February with his reps inquiring whether the two acts were competing against each other.

In an Instagram post in December 2023, Titchenell advised the public about the alleged trademark violation on Instagram.

“We have become aware of, and you may have heard of, another ‘Jelly Roll’, who has recently gained some fame in the country music scene – Jason DeFord, the Nashville area crossover singer-songwriter. It’s imperative that we avoid confusion for our band that has been performing as JELLYROLL® for over 40 years,” the statement reads.

“Therefore, we have an obligation to inform the public that Mr. DeFord performing as ‘Jelly Roll’ is misleading, and an infringement on our band’s JELLYROLL® trademark. We have run into issues with our social media accounts, search engine optimization, Google Ads, as well as overall brand recognition. The related promotion of his performance at the popular local Philadelphia Jingle Ball has caused confusion within our fan base resulting in multiple inquiries requesting information on the event. This is to clarify that the original JELLYROLL® is not part of this event.”

Titchenell is asking the court to prevent DeFord from using the name, particularly for the Philadelphia concert at the Wells Fargo Center in October 2024.

In interviews, DeFord stated that his mom nicknamed him Jelly Roll as a kid, but he didn’t start using the name until he began self-creating music mix tapes around 2010.

Neither DeFord nor his label, BBR Music Group, have publicly commented on the matter.