The makers of a “hand-crafted, ultra-premium” British vodka called Ghost claim they have received a letter from the Swedish occult rock band threatening legal action over the use of the name. Ghost the band has also marketed a gin using the group's name, which could conceivably have caused marketplace confusion.
The vodka company, which launched in June 2015, claims that band founder Tobias Forge and his representatives have known about their product since 2016. After sharing an initial post about the matter last Saturday (May 9th) on Facebook, the vodka makers issued a lengthier statement this week.
Ghost Drinks sales director Ry Leon wrote, “The band take umbrage to Ghost Vodka (trading since 2015) being allowed to title their brand as such, feeling they should have exclusive use of the word 'ghost' across a multitude of different sectors. This is despite their primary business and income deriving from music and not having a competing product in this sector.”
Leon added that Ghost Vodka is now available in 36 countries but had not heard of the band Ghost at the time of its launch, and was not marketed to a rock or metal crowd.
Leon continued, “We believe Tobias Forge needs the money having recently settled another case out of court. Having observed us since 2016 he now feels that we might have the funds available to provide him with a decent sized settlement.”
Forge recently settled a lawsuit brought by four former members of Ghost, who alleged that they were denied their share of the band's profits as promised by the singer, who later dismissed them.
The statement from Leon concluded, “Having looked into (Forge's) background, this is all entirely within character. If he can screw over his own bandmates, he will have no qualms in coming after a small, independent business.”
Neither Forge nor his representatives have commented on the matter. Forge is working on the fifth Ghost album, due out next year.