Lennon Murphy Sued By Yoko Ono for Name Use

Yoko Ono is reportedly suing a U.S. singer named Lennon Murphy for performing under the name Lennon. Although the singer has been performing under the name Lennon for eight years, she actually registered the name as a trademark in 2003 according to TMZ.

Lennon Murphy's mother was a fan of John (the painter, the father who baked bread with his son, etc.) and named her after him. Apparently, Lennon Murphy contacted Yoko early on in her career about performing under the name Lennon, even though it is her legal name, but says that Yoko didn't object at that time. However, Yoko's now arguing that Murphy "fraudulently registered the name as a trademark which is considered a "tarnishment" towards her late husband's name.

What's also interesting is that Julian Lennon, John Lennon's oldest son from his first marriage to Cynthia Lennon has reportedly posted a statement on his MySpace page stating that he doesn't have a problem with the singer using his father's name. Well, it's his name too and he said:

“She has my full support.”

After reading Lennon Murphy's heartfelt letter on Julian's MySpace page, it actually brought me to tears. I feel so bad for her. It sounds like she genuinely never meant to cash in on John Lennon's name and from the sounds of it, actually never made that much cash anyway. And even though John is probably the most famous Lennon, he wasn't the only Lennon out there. I'm wondering if the reason Yoko is suing over the name now is because she had planned to market something else and this is preventing her from making more money.

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