According to Reuters, the suit alleges that the founders of the web site "misappropriated Rock Hall's substantial intellectual property rights as well as the goodwill associated therewith. Unless restrained ... by the court, such conduct will, permit defendants to gain an unfair advantage over Rock Hall."
The suit asks for an injunction and over $100,000 in damages.
The founders of the proposed web site, journalists David Segal of the Washington Post and Jeffrey Goldberg of the New Yorker, and XM Satellite Radio executive Allen Goldberg, dispute the allegations.
"The idea that anyone would confuse a large museum with a web site run by a couple of Jewish guys with a computer is amazing to me, especially since it isn't even up yet," Segal told Reuters.
According to David Woods, an IP litigator with Pinsent Masons, the firm behind OUT-LAW.COM:
"There would appear to be some risk of confusion between the two names. In many cases adding words to an existing trade mark has been held to amount to trade mark infringement. The addition of one word to the existing mark in this case may not be sufficient to distinguish it."
The museum, based in Cleveland, Ohio, records and displays information about top performers, producers and other influential people in the rock and roll industry. It also runs an annual ceremony, inducting a select number of people into the "Hall of Fame" each year.
Inductees only qualify for the honour 25 years after their first record is released. Performers already inducted into the Hall of Fame include Elvis Presley and The Beatles. Due to be included in this year's ceremony, which takes place on 14th March, are The Pretenders, U2 and The O'Jays.