The Eagles, a rock band known for their many award-winning songs and albums, have filed a trademark lawsuit in the U.S. District Court, Central District of California against a hotel in Mexico. The hotel, located in Todos Santos, Mexico, operates under the name Hotel California Baja LLC.

The 1976 hit “Hotel California” is one of the most popular and iconic songs associated with the band and they feel the hotel is trying to capitalize on the song and band’s fame.

The hotel first opened in 1950 as the Hotel California, but the name did not last long as the property underwent multiple changes in ownership. In 2001, Canadian couple Debbie and John Stewart purchased the hotel and restored it to its original name. The lawsuit alleges the couple did this intentionally as they “sought to revitalize the hotel and create a reputation for it, based at least partially on the hotel’s reputed, but false, connection to the Eagles.”

The lawsuit states “[t]hrough advertising targeted to U.S. consumers, and in person communications, defendants lead U.S. consumers to believe that the Todos Santos hotel is associated with the Eagles and, among other things, served as the inspiration for the lyrics in ‘Hotel California,’ which is false. Multiple online reviews make clear that U.S. consumers who visit the Todos Santos hotel and buy defendants’ merchandise do, in fact, believe that the Todos Santos hotel is associated with the Eagles, which is not the case.”

The hotel allegedly plays the famous song and other Eagles’ hits in the lobby and throughout the hotel. The hotel also sells merchandise such as key chains, bathrobes, t-shirts, sweatshirts, guitar pics that feature the Eagles name and cover art from the “Hotel California” album. The hotel reportedly also applied to register the Hotel California name with the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).

Although the hotel’s website states they have no affiliation with the famous rock band, continued reading suggests otherwise. It states, “Many … legends are less black and white and continue to fascinate the public. Although the present owners of the hotel do not have any affiliation with the Eagles, nor do they promote any association, many visitors are mesmerized by the ‘coincidences’ between the lyrics of the hit song and the physicality of the hotel and its surroundings.”

One of the coincidences the hotel mentions is the opening line to the famous song, “on a dark desert highway, cool wind in my hair.” The hotel refers to this by saying “Hotel California is accessed by driving down a long desert highway from either Los Cabos to the south or La Paz to the east.” In another verse of the song it says “I heard the mission bell” the hotel states “[t]he Mission Church of Pilar is located directly adjacent to the hotel and mission bells are heard daily.”

Despite the supposed coincidences between the song and the hotel, Don Henley, singer of the song and Eagles band member, said the song isn’t even about a hotel or California at all. “It’s a journey from innocence to experience. It’s not really about California; it’s about America. It’s about the dark underbelly of the American dream. It’s about excess, it’s about narcissism. It’s about the music business. … It can have a million interpretations.”

The Eagles are seeking an injunction to ban the hotel from further infringement by using the name Hotel California or anything that would imply it is connected to or approved by the band and are asking for all related profits plus actual and exemplary damages.

Suiter Swantz IP is a full-service intellectual property law firm based in Omaha, NE, serving all of Nebraska, Iowa, and South Dakota. If you have any intellectual property questions or need assistance with any patent, trademark, or copyright mattes and would like to speak to one of our patent attorneys please feel free to contact us.