In the United States, Lost Surfboards is opposing a request by Lady Gaga (Stefani Germanotta) for $232,000 in legal fees after a federal judge dismissed the company’s trademark lawsuit over her 2025 album Mayhem. The surfboard maker argues that losing the case does not automatically make it responsible for the singer’s legal costs.
Lost opposes the fee request in a Thursday (Sept. 24) court filing. The company, which is appealing the dismissal, says it had a valid basis for suing Lady Gaga and that legal fees should be awarded only in extreme situations where a lawsuit was clearly unreasonable from the start.
“Attorneys’ fees are the exception, not a consolation prize for the prevailing party, and this case does not stand out,” write Lost’s lawyers in the opposition.
Lady Gaga’s team has argued that the case was a “publicity stunt” designed to extract a settlement. Lost rejects that characterization.
“Lost’s real purpose in filing its lawsuit was to protect a registration it owns … against use of the identical word with nearly identical stylization on apparel,” reads the filing.
Why the case was dismissed#
Lost says the lawsuit was dismissed on technical grounds. The First Amendment makes it difficult to sue over trademark use in artistic works such as music and movies, and Judge Fernando M. Olguin ruled that Lost could not overcome that hurdle without showing Lady Gaga intentionally tried to mislead consumers with the word “mayhem.”
“Defendants ultimately prevailed under … a fact-intensive defense turning on artistic relevance and explicit misleadingness,” Lost says. “Defendants now attempt to recast that merits ruling, with the benefit of hindsight, as proof that Lost’s claims were unreasonable from the outset. It proves no such thing.”
Fee request and case background#
Lost also argues that Gibson Dunn’s $232,000 fee request for 150 hours of legal work is “inflated.” The surf company says the amount should be reduced even if Lady Gaga is awarded some fees.
Mayhem debuted at No. 1 on the U.S. album chart in March 2025 and spent 63 weeks there. Lost sued Lady Gaga the same month, alleging the album title infringed both the name and stylized red logo from Mayhem surfboards it had been selling since the 1980s.
Lost sought to bar Lady Gaga from selling Mayhem merchandise online or at stops of her global Mayhem Ball tour, which ultimately grossed more than $400 million during its yearlong run. Judge Olguin refused to issue an injunction last December and dismissed the case in August.
Lady Gaga’s lawyers did not immediately comment on the filing on Friday (Sept. 25). A hearing regarding legal fees is set for Oct. 15.
In his dismissal decision, Judge Olguin wrote: “These allegations are conclusory and insufficient to constitute an explicit indication, overt claim, or explicit misstatement identifying Lost as the source of Lady Gaga’s work. The use of a mark alone is not enough … and nothing in the [lawsuit] suggests or otherwise indicates an affirmative misrepresentation in connection with the source or the content of Lady Gaga’s work.”
