What It Sounds Like: Netflix Hit with a Trademark Infringement Lawsuit for Kpop Demon Hunters

Have you heard of the movie Kpop Demon Hunters? If you know any kids or K-pop fans, you almost certainly have.

Kpop Demon Hunters is a movie available on Netflix®, released in June 2025. Netflix purchased the property from Sony Animation Studios for a reported 20 million dollars, and it’s now one of the largest, most popular animated properties of the decade. It’s Netflix’s most popular English-language film ever, having amassed more than 325.1 million views.

The movie also features 9 original songs on its soundtrack, which have gone mega-viral with more than 10 billion global streams, with some reaching the Top 10 on the Billboard Hot 100, winning the Golden Globe for Best Song, and earning 5 Grammy Nominations. With the sudden, unexpected surge in popularity, Netflix and its licensees have rushed to produce huge amounts of merchandise, including shirts, notebooks, coloring books, hats, plushies, K-pop light sticks, beauty products, and more, available online and in brick-and-mortar stores.

Now, have you ever heard of the Christian-metal band Demon Hunter®? Maybe you have, maybe you haven’t, but their August 18, 2026, Complaint for trademark infringement against Netflix in the United States District Court for the Central District of California has K-pop fans, metal fans, and intellectual property attorneys talking.

The Christian-metal band Demon Hunter was formed in 2000 by brothers Ryan and Don Clark. Demon Hunter released their debut single, “Through the Black,” in February 2002, and later in October of the same year, their first studio album, Demon Hunter.

The band has been continuously active and promoting under the DEMON HUNTER name ever since, releasing albums in 2005, 2007, 2010, 2012, 2014, 2017, 2019, 2022, and 2025. The band has also sold DVDs, including a full-length documentary and concert film in 2008; a companion comic book to their 2022 album; and, on their website, vinyl, t-shirts, sweatshirts, stickers, and more. Demon Hunter has played concerts and festivals around the world. They boast over 363,000 Spotify followers and 348,000 monthly listeners, and their 7 most popular songs have over one hundred million cumulative plays on the platform.

Both Netflix, for their mark KPOP DEMON HUNTERS, and Demon Hunter, for their mark DEMON HUNTER, have pending applications and active registrations with the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). So, what’s the big deal? Well, it is an established tenet of trademark law that rights to trademarks come from use. And whoever adopts a trademark first and uses it and affects interstate commerce with it continuously since its adoption gets to be the owner of the mark – the senior mark owner.

Demon Hunter’s registrations and applications have dates of first use that predate Netflix’s. Demon Hunter, the band, came first and started using the trademark DEMON HUNTER and began affecting interstate commerce well before Netflix. This makes DEMON HUNTER the senior mark.

In its Complaint Demon Hunter alleges, among other things, both standard trademark infringement and something a bit out of the ordinary called reverse confusion. This allegation of reverse confusion means that the junior mark, in this case Netflix’s KPOP DEMON HUNTERS mark, has saturated the market and is causing consumers to believe that the smaller, senior mark’s goods and/or services are associated with or originate from the junior.

Demon Hunter has plenty of evidence to allege likelihood of confusion in their complaint. There are screen captures of numerous social media posts using the hashtag #DEMONHUNTER in association with Kpop Demon Hunters posts, a screen capture of Ticketmaster prioritizing KPOP DEMON HUNTERS associated events above DEMON HUNTER events, a comparison of former and more current Google Searches for DEMON HUNTER, and examples of metal covers of the Kpop Demon Hunters songs.

On top of that, they demonstrate that the goods and services that Demon Hunter and Netflix’s numerous trademark applications and registrations cover not only overlap – they are nearly identical. Both marks are being used in International Class 9 (audio recordings, CDs, DVDs, etc.), International Class 16 (books, comics, posters, etc.), International Class 25 (clothing, t-shirts, etc.), and International Class 41 (entertainment, music performances, etc.).

Here’s where it starts to get good:

Demon Hunter brings the receipts from the USPTO. The findings and opinions of the USPTO examiners and the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board (TTAB) are not binding on the courts, but they can be persuasive. When Netflix filed for its KPOP DEMON HUNTERS mark in International Class 41, the trademark examiner refused the application for trademark registration because the term KPOP is descriptive “of an ingredient, quality, characteristic, function, feature, purpose, or use of applicant’s goods and/or services[,]” i.e., Korean pop. Even though Netflix challenged that assertion, the examiner came back again requiring a disclaimer of the descriptive language. Not looking good for the validity and strength of Netflix’s marks.

The drama’s pièce de résistance:

Demon Hunter brings to the court’s attention two distinct incidents of actual confusion. Actual confusion means that someone was actually confused – it happened – it’s no longer theoretical. While this isn’t definitive, it is very strong evidence that the damage to the band’s DEMON HUNTER mark is real.

The first incident involved an email sent to the band on February 26, 2026. The email requested a refund of about $500 spent on tickets to a Demon Hunter concert. The person requested a refund because, when they bought the tickets, they thought they were buying tickets to a Kpop Demon Hunters show for their young daughters. Was the parent confused about which tickets they were purchasing? You bet! This is textbook confusion.

The second incident involved a producer for the television show Inside Edition®, in theory a more sophisticated consumer than our would-be concertgoer. Doesn’t look great for Netflix. The producer had emailed a member of Demon Hunter’s management seeking an interview with Yu-Han Lee. Here’s the problem with that: Yu-Han Lee is not a member or a songwriter of the band Demon Hunter. He’s one of the songwriters behind the Kpop Demon Hunters movie music. So even the producer of Inside Edition, a highly sophisticated individual, confused DEMON HUNTER, the band, with KPOP DEMON HUNTERS from Netflix!

And wait! There’s one more layer to all of this!

We’ve only seen what Demon Hunter is alleging in their Complaint; Netflix has yet to file an Answer. Also, remember? Netflix bought Kpop Demon Hunters from Sony Animation Studios. Both Netflix and Sony Animation Studios must have sophisticated trademark attorneys. Like Demon Hunter’s Complaint says “. . . almost certainly [Netlix were] … aware of Demon Hunter.” Things could not get any messier.

We don’t know what that sale agreement said, or whether it even contemplated the level of intellectual property Netflix now owns.

Nor do we know when the Kpop Demon Hunters name was chosen to become the KPOP DEMON HUNTERS mark. Did Netflix choose it? Did Sony? Did anyone do a trademark clearance search? Who is liable for damages if it turns out that Demon Hunter wins their case?

If Netflix was not the originator of the mark, then who was? Was it another party? Will Netflix file a Motion to Join another party to the lawsuit and claim that the other party is responsible for choosing the mark and therefor liable under trademark law? Or were there any warranties or guarantees in the agreement between Netflix and Sony Animation Studios, potentially making Sony Animation Studios liable for breach of contract or breach of those warranties?

So, what’s the takeaway?

If Demon Hunter is capable of proving facts that show its trademark DEMON HUNTER merits protection, that it is in fact the senior mark owner, i.e., that it’s use predates Netflix’s use, and that there is a likelihood of confusion between DEMON HUNTER and KPOP DEMON HUNTERS, then Netflix may be in deep trouble. Being a multi-billion-dollar multimedia company doesn’t exempt you from doing your due diligence on your trademarks! Quite the contrary in fact. As the Second Circuit told Tommy Hilfiger U.S.A. Inc. way back in 1996, a company faces tremendous financial exposure when it fails to conduct a full clearance search. If someone at Netflix had done a trademark search before the movie launched on their platform, we might not be here now.

Will Netflix fight or settle out of court? If the case settles, we may never have a definitive answer to the question of likelihood of confusion between the DEMON HUNTER and KPOP DEMON HUNTERS trademarks.

But one thing we do know is that money, more likely than not, will exchange hands, even if the case settles. And, whatever the final amount Netflix pays its lawyers and/or Demon Hunter, it probably would’ve cost them a lot less to do a trademark clearance search from the start.

We’ll be keeping an eye out for news on this case, so check back in for updates!