Pink Floyd Rights Holder Seeks to Thwart Unidentified Online Seller of Fake Goods

PinkFloydMerch.com is “a commercial, interactive internet store” selling products with counterfeit versions of Pink Floyd trademarks, alleged Pink Floyd (1987) Limited (PFL), the music group’s rights holder, in an infringement and cybersquatting complaint Thursday (docket 1:24-cv-04711). The unidentified owner of the domain is committing “tortious acts in Illinois,” and is engaging unlawfully in interstate commerce, said the complaint filed in U.S. District Court for Northern Illinois in Chicago. The conduct has wrongfully caused PFL“substantial injury,” it said. “In the past, PFL was able to police its marks against identifiable infringers and counterfeiters,” said the complaint. But the rise of online retailing, coupled with the ability of e-commerce sites to hide their identities, “has made it nearly impossible for policing actions to be undertaken,” it said. PFL has availed itself of takedown procedures to remove infringing products, “but these efforts have proved to be an unavailing game of whack-a-mole against the mass counterfeiting that is occurring over the internet,” it said. The aggregated effect of the massive counterfeiting that’s taking place has overwhelmed PFL “and its ability to police its rights against the hundreds of anonymous defendants" that are selling illegal counterfeits at prices substantially below those of genuine Pink Floyd merchandise, it said. PFL “has been and continues to be irreparably damaged” through consumer confusion, dilution and loss of control over its reputation and goodwill, plus the inferior quality of the counterfeit goods bearing the Pink Floyd trademarks, it said. The rise of e-commerce as a method of supplying goods to the public “exposes brand holders and creators that make significant investments in their products to significant harm from counterfeiters,” it said. The defendant is using a “fake online storefront” designed to appear to be selling genuine PFL products, while selling “inferior imitations” of those products, said the complaint. PFL is filing this action to combat the defendant’s counterfeiting of PFL’s registered trademarks, plus to protect “unknowing consumers” from buying unauthorized Pink Floyd products over the internet, it said.