A seven-strong blues/western swing band from Essex has been forced to change its name after a showdown with one of the world's leading financial institutions. When Wills Fargo was founded in 2007, inspired by 1940s and 1950s Americana, its creators wanted to give it a western-themed name to match.
Bassist Dave Bronze, 57, insists the name, playing on that of the famous stagecoach company Wells Fargo, was chosen as a tribute to swing legend Bob Wills. But the seven musicians have had to rethink their decision in order to avoid a court case after being contacted by a team of lawyers representing the company, now an international bank.
Mr Bronze, from Leigh-on-Sea, Essex, criticised Wells Fargo's reaction as ''stupid''. He said: ''They said we should desist from infringing the copyright of the bank. I thought it was someone having a laugh at first. It is a stupid thing to happen.
''When we are in the middle of the worst banking crisis for 90 years you would think they would have something better to do. We are all fans of the legendary Bob Wills, the king of western swing, and we thought our name should reflect that and we chose Wills Fargo.''
But a Wells Fargo spokeswoman said the company had ''an obligation'' to protect its brand.
She said: ''Like all brand owners, Wells Fargo has an obligation to protect its brand against the proliferation of unlicensed uses of confusingly similar trade names, trademarks and service marks. Such uses tend to dilute or weaken the distinctive quality of a famous brand.''
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