NOTUS Scraps ‘The Star’ Rebrand, Ends Trademark Dispute

It turns out, D.C. is only big enough for one Star.

The political news site NOTUS has amicably resolved its legal dispute with the owners of The Washington Star trademark, bringing to a close one of the weirder copyright battles in recent media history — and putting an end to a pricey and aborted relaunch. As part of the settlement, NOTUS has abandoned its plan to rebrand as The Star, a spokesperson confirmed Thursday.

The legal battle began late last month, as NOTUS prepared a much-hyped relaunch as The Star, a general-interest Washington publication. The site’s owner, Robert Allbritton, is the son of a former owner of The Washington Star, which went out of business in 1981. Unfortunately for Allbritton, the old paper’s trademark is owned by someone else. And that owner sued NOTUS last month for trademark infringement, asking a judge to order NOTUS to stop using the name and pay damages. According to court filings, The Washington Star – led by Dovid Efune, the publisher of The New York Sun – had been planning its own re-launch and two D.C. publications with Star in the name is bad for business.

“Both parties have amicably resolved the matter,” a NOTUS spokesperson said in a statement. “We continue to work toward a new name."

Earlier this month, a federal judge blocked NOTUS from rebranding on the eve of its multi-million dollar launch. The temporary restraining order forbade NOTUS from unveiling a new website and advertising as The Star until the judge ruled on a preliminary injunction at a July 22 hearing.

But the media companies decided to forgo the wait and take matters into their own hands. The Washington Star filed to dismiss Thursday.

A spokesperson for The Washington Star did not immediately respond to request for comment. The NOTUS spokesperson declined to answer whether money had been exchanged as part of the settlement and if the publication has honed in on any potential new names.