One Direction-mania Down Under

ROUGH CUT (NO REPORTER NARRATION)

STORY: Thousands of screaming teenage fans stood outside Channel Seven's studios in Sydney on Wednesday (April 10) morning to see British boy band One Direction as they appeared on the Network's breakfast show, "Sunrise".

Local media said some slept the night outside the studios, and were rewarded with a glimpse of Niall Horan, Zayn Malik, Liam Payne, Harry Styles and Louis Tomlinson as they waved to excited fans.

One Direction is in Australia for four performances before heading to New Zealand for three performances.

The band has been sued for trademark infringement because it is using the same name as a small California pop-rock group.

In what is expected to be a multi-million dollar lawsuit, attorneys for the California band are seeking an injunction that would stop Cowell's Syco Entertainment and Sony Music from using the name One Direction in promotional materials. They also want a share of the profits earned by the chart-topping British boys.

The five Britons, who have taken the U.K., the United States, and Australia by storm after being discovered on Cowell's British talent show "The X Factor" in 2010, are named along with Syco and Sony Music Entertainment in the federal lawsuit filed on Monday (April 8) in California Central District Court.

The California band says it is entitled to three times the profits made by their rivals, as well as compensatory damages in excess of one million U.S. dollars.

The lawsuit claims that Syco and Sony Music "chose to ignore the plaintiff's rights and willfully infringed them" after they realized in early 2011 that the two bands share the same name.

The northern California band has been using the name One Direction since late 2009 and has recorded two albums, the lawsuit states. It filed an application to register the trademark name in the United States in February 2011.