Phish, Inc. v. John Does 1-100 et al, 09 cv 00022 RAJ FBS (E.D. V.A. Feb 25, 2009).

The iconic rock band Phish filed a complaint seeking a temporary restraining order in preparation for their upcoming reunion tour.  The restraining order would prohibit people from, among other things, selling merchandise that infringed their trademarks in the vicinity of their March 6-8 Hampton, Virginia concerts.  The band also requested that the federal district court in Newport, Virgina order a United States Marshal and the local and state police to seize and impound any infringing merchandise being sold.

The complaint contains a couple of (perhaps unintentionally) funny snipits:

Plaintiff has regularly received financially lucrative offers to license Plaintiffs Marks for use on a variety of products, such as the manufacturers of the PHISH FOOD ice cream, Ben & Jerry’s. However, Plaintiff is careful to limit such merchandising activities only to products of the highest quality and pursuant to arrangements by which it maintains complete control over the manner in which its name and likenesses are represented, in line with the high regard in which the Phish name is considered in the popular music industry.

And:

Because they are generally nomadic individuals without a business premises or other connection to the area, Bootleggers often flee the area permanently once they have sold Bootleg Merchandise [ED: or get a bad case of the munchies]. Thus, Phish has been unable to determine their identity.

Phish will offer free MP3s of the concerts at its website.  The band last toured in December 2005.

Documents:

• Phish, Inc. v. John Does 1-100 et al, 09 cv 00022 RAJ FBS (E.D. V.A. Feb 25, 2009) (complaint).
• Phish, Inc. v. John Does 1-100 et al, 09 cv 00022 RAJ FBS (E.D. V.A. Feb 25, 2009) (memorandum in support).