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IN
THE
UNITED
STATES
DISTRICT
COURT
FORTHE
EASTERN
DISTRICT
OF
VIRGINIA
FILE
D
Newport
News
Division
I
MAR-
6
2009
PHISH,
INC.,
Plaintiff,
v.
CLERK,
US
DISTRICT
COURT
NORFOLK,
VA
CIVIL
ACTION
NO.
4:09cv22
JOHN
DOES
1-100
ANDABC
CORPORATIONS
1-5,
Defendants.
MEMORANDUM
OPINION
&
ORDER
This
matter
is
before
the
Court
on
Phish,
Inc.'s
("Plaintiff")
Motion
for
a
Temporary
Restraining
Order("TRO"),
SeizureOrder,
andOrder
to
Show
Cause
for
Preliminary
Injunctionagainst
various
John
Does
and
ABC
Corporations("Defendants")pursuant
to
Rule65
of
the
Federal
Rulesof
Civil
Procedure
and
the
Lanham
Act,
15
U.S.C.
§
1501
etseq.,
based
on
an
action
for
trademark
infringement,
unfair
competition,
false
designation
of
origin,
trademark
dilution,
and
violation
of
the
righttopublicity.
On
March
5,2009,
the
Court
conducted
an
exparte
hearing
on
Plaintiffs
motion.
On
March
6,2009,
Plaintiff
filed
a
supplemental
brief
addressing
two
issues
of
concern
to
theCourt.
I.
FACTUAL
AND
PROCEDURAL
HISTORY
Plaintiff
is
the
owner
of
various
trademarks
and
trade
names
of
therock-and-roll
band
known
asPhish.
Phish
currentlyincludesindividual
artists
by
the
names
ofTrey
Anastasio,
Mike
Gordon,JonFishman,andPageMcConnell.
(Compl.,
If
13.)
From
1992
through
2004,
several
of
 
Phish's
albums
made
it
to
the
Billboard
200
Charts,
apopular
music
tradeindustry
publication.
(Compl.,
ffl]
8,
10.)
During
this
time,
Phish
engaged
in
constanttouring
and
album
releases.
(Compl.,K
9.)
Since
the
1980s,
Phishhas
soldclose
to
eight
million
albums.(Compl.,^
12.)
Plaintiff
owns
federalregistrationsfor
its
trademarks
in
the
name
PHISH,
including
PHISH
FOOD
(no.
2173816)
on
hats,T-shirts,
shirts,
and
jackets,
and
ice
cream,
frozen
yogurt,
and
sorbet,
PHISH
(no.
2096010)
for
providinga
data
base
of
information
and
interactive
discussion
groups
on
a
global
computernetwork
in
the
field
ofmusicand
entertainment,
PHISH
(no.
2029049)
on
musical
audio
and
video
recordings,
PHISH
(no.
2029048)
on
posters,decals,
calendars,sheet
music,
newsletters
andbooks
in
the
fields
of
musicand
entertainment,
PHISH
(no.
1917861)
on
bumper
stickers
and
hats,
T-shirts,
shirts,
and
jackets,
PHISH
(no.
1782981)
on
entertainment
in
thenature
of
amusicalgroup,
and
PHISH
(no.
1930480)
on
bumper
stickers
and
hats,T-shirts,
shirts,
and
jackets,
and
cloth
patches
forclothing.
Phish
artist
Anastasio
also
owns
federal
registrationsforthe
trademarks
OYSTERHEAD
(no.
2662635)
for
prerecordedmusical
recordings,
jackets,
hats,
shirts,
and
T-shirts,
and
entertainment
in
thenature
of
amusicalgroup;
GAMEHENDGE
(no.
2048310)
for
hats,
T-shirts,
shirts,
jackets,
pants,
socks,
shorts,
and
ponchos;
and
GAMEHENDGE
(no.
2053513)
for
bumper
stickers,
posters,decals,
calendars,sheetmusic,
newsletters,
andbooks
in
the
fields
of
musicand
entertainment.
Plaintiff
is
authorized
to
sell
some
merchandise
containing
these
marks.
Plaintiff
also
owns
a
charitablefund-raising
entity
known
as
Waterwheel
Foundation,
Inc.,
through
which
it
owns
a
federal
registrationfor
the
trademark
WATERWHEEL
(no.
2247438)
forcharitable
fund
raising
and
distribution
of
funds
to
charities.
Finally,
Phish
artist
McConnellowns
an
entity
known
as
A.Dante,
LLC,
through
which
he
owns
a
federalregistration
forthe
trademark
VIDA
BLUE
(no.
2842286)
for
entertainment
in
 
thenature
of
live
musical
performances
by
amusical
group.
Plaintiff
is
also
licensed
to
manufacture
and
sell
merchandise
containing
this
mark.(Compl.,
ffll
14-18.)
Plaintiff
has
used
these
trademarks,
as
well
astheservice
marks,
trade
names,
logos,
and
likenesses
of
the
artists
(collectively
"Plaintiffs
Marks"),
substantially
and
continuously
in
interstate
commerce,
and
has
regularly
received
lucrativeofferstolicense
thePlaintiffs
Marks
foruse
on
a
variety
of
products.
(Compl.,
fflf
19-20.)
However,
Plaintiff
has
limited
such
merchandising
activities
only
toselective
products.
(Compl.,
120.)
Pursuant
to
an
agreement
between
Plaintiff
and
the
Phish
artists,
Plaintiff
possesses
the
right
to
sell
anyand
all
recordings,
articles
of
clothing,
orother
merchandise
bearing
anyof
thePlaintiffs
Marks.(Compl.,K
19.)
Under
various
licensing
arrangements,
goods
bearing
Plaintiffs
Marks
havebeen
distributed
widely.
(Compl.,
f
21.)Plaintiff
plans
to
begin
its
touring
this
year
at
the
Hampton
Coliseum
in
Hampton,
Virginia,
with
athree-dayconcert
series
beginning
March
6,
2009
(the
"Hampton
Concert").
Plaintiff
has
sold
approximately40,000
ticketsfor
this
event.
(Compl.,
K
23.)
Plaintiff
plans
to
continue
with
a
nationwide
concert
tour
in
multiple
cities
throughout
this
year,
and
all
of
theseconcertsaresold
out.
(Mem.
Supp.
TRO,
5.)
Plaintiff
intends
to
manufacture,
distribute,
and
sell,
and
has
or
willlicense
vendors
to
do
so,
merchandise
at
the
Hampton
Concert
and
futureconcerts.
(Compl.,
^
24.)Plaintiff
has
filed
the
instant
lawsuit
because
of
its
concern
regarding
illegal
"bootleggers"
who
sell
unauthorized
merchandise
at
ornearconcertvenues.
Plaintiff
alleges
that
such
bootleggersmisappropriate
the
names,
likenesses,
or
trademarks
of
performing
artists
and
musical
groups
for
use
on
merchandise
to
sell
tothe
generalpublic
in
order
to
benefit
from
the
musical
group's
commercial
value
and
reputation,
all
in
violation
of
the
rights
of
those
individuals
and
of 00

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