A company associated with Pink Floyd’s David Gilmour has filed a trademark infringement lawsuit against the operator of a website it claims is selling counterfeit merchandise.

The lawsuit, filed in Illinois on Monday (April 21) against the Owner and/or Operator of otherbrick.com, states that it was filed “to combat online counterfeiters who trade upon [Gilmour’s] reputation and goodwill by selling and/or offering for sale products in connection with” the David Gilmour trademark.

The website at the centre of the lawsuit claims on its ‘about page’ to be the “ultimate destination for Pink Floyd-inspired merchandise,” including T-shirts and accessories to home decor” that “reflect the spirit of this iconic band”.

The website also features David Gilmour-related merch, which the lawsuit claims is being sold without his permission.

The entity suing otherbrick.com is David Gilmour Music Ltd., a UK-registered business associated with David Gilmour.

As the complaint notes, Gilmour is the “singer, songwriter, composer, multi-instrumentalist, and record producer” who is “widely known for being a member of the iconic rock band Pink Floyd.”

According to the lawsuit, David Gilmour Music Ltd. “is in the business of developing, marketing, selling, distributing and retailing high-quality concert merchandise” – i.e. David Gilmour Products – “under the federally registered DAVID GILMOUR Trademark”.

The lawsuit claims that the “Defendant’s sales of counterfeit products [are] in violation of Plaintiff’s intellectual property rights [and] are irreparably damaging [David Gilmour Music Ltd]”.

The complaint, obtained by MBW, and which you can read in full here, adds that “Gilmour remains active and [his company] DGML is an official source of authentic DAVID GILMOUR products”.

The legal filing also insists that The David Gilmour Trademark “has been continuously used and never abandoned” having “expended substantial time, money, and other resources in developing, advertising, and otherwise promoting” the Trademark.

“As a result, products bearing the DAVID GILMOUR Trademark are widely recognized and exclusively associated by consumers, the public, and the trade as being products sourced from Plaintiff,” the complaint states.

Within the complaint, Gilmour’s company states that otherbrick.com is “selling illegal counterfeits at prices substantially below an original”.

“Defendant is using a fake online storefront designed to appear to be selling genuine Plaintiff products, while selling inferior imitations of Plaintiff’s products.”

Lawsuit filed by David Gilmour Music Ltd.

The legal filing continues: “Plaintiff has been and continues to be irreparably damaged through consumer confusion, dilution, loss of control over its reputation and goodwill as well as the quality of goods bearing the DAVID GILMOUR Trademark.

“Defendant is using a fake online storefront designed to appear to be selling genuine Plaintiff products, while selling inferior imitations of Plaintiff’s products.

“Plaintiff is filing this action to combat Defendant’s counterfeiting of Plaintiff’s registered trademark, as well as to protect unknowing consumers from purchasing unauthorized DAVID GILMOUR products over the internet.”

The lawsuit explains that “the success of the David Gilmour brand has resulted in its significant counterfeiting” and that the defendant in the case “conducts its illegal operations through a fully interactive commercial website”.

The suit also alleges that the site’s owner “has intentionally concealed its identity and the full scope of its counterfeiting operations in an effort to deter Plaintiff from learning Defendant’s true identity and the exact interworking of Defendant’s illegal counterfeiting operations”.

The lawsuit seeks various remedies, including a permanent injunction to stop the unauthorized use of the trademark, transfer of the domain name to Gilmour’s company, removal of the site from search results, and substantial financial damages.

David Gilmour Music Ltd. wants the alleged website to “account for and pay to [Gilmour’s company] “all profits realized” via the “unlawful acts” listed in the lawsuit and “that the amount of damages for infringement of the DAVID GILMOUR Trademark be increased by a sum not exceeding three times the amount thereof” as stipulated by 15 U.S.C. § 1117, which covers recovery for violation of rights.

In the alternative, the complaint states that Gilmour’s company should be awarded statutory damages of $2 million “for each and every use of the David Gilmour Trademark”.Music Business Worldwide