"This is the first and only official statement of the UK band Kling Klang regarding news of possible legal action being taken against the band by Kraftwerk. Any previously quoted statements cannot have been issued by the band, who currently have no official management.

In Cologne on Sunday 6th April the UK band Kling Klang were issued with a document by representatives of Messrs. Ralf Hutter & Florian Schneider of the German band Kraftwerk. The document is an order to cease and desist using the name "Kling Klang" as the name of the group. Since Messrs. Hutter & Schneider own the trademark "Klingklang" (the name of Kraftwerk's studio, and publishing/merchandising companies), they feel that use of the term "Kling Klang" as a band name is an infringement of their trademark rights.

While aware of Kraftwerk's utilisation of the term as a single word, the band Kling Klang arrived at their name by way of an onomatopoeic reference to a guitar improvisation of binary structure. "Klang" is a German word for "sound", "kling" means "bell", thus "kling klang" means literally "bell-sound" and can be used in the same way as the English term "ding-dong". The term (as two words) appears to be in popular usage in more than one language, and the band in no way thought they would be infringing upon the trademark rights of Messrs. Hutter and Schneider in utilising this term as a name for their group. No disrespect or plagiarism was intended, nor was there any intent to confuse audiences or to in some way capitalise on Kraftwerk's legacy. The music of the group Kling Klang, while influenced to some degree by Kraftwerk (as so many musicians have been), sounds very different and has it's own original elements as well as many other influences.

The band have used the name Kling Klang without incident for a number of years and did not anticipate becoming well-known enough for their name to matter. However, the band completely understand Kraftwerk's concerns in protecting their trademark. Kling Klang hold Kraftwerk in the highest esteem as inspirational musicians and hope to resolve this matter quickly and amicably.

Any previously published statements which purport to represent the band's opinions or indicate their intentions should be disregarded."

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