J. Geils Sues J.Geils Band
The band's namesake wants to stop them from touring under his name
The Boston Globe reports that Geils (the man) has filed a lawsuit against the J.Geils Band.
Ten days ago the band announced that they were to tour under the name without their founding member and guitarist.
Now, according to the Globe, an attorney representing the guitarist has filed a lawsuit accusing his bandmates, Peter Wolf, Seth Justman, Magic Dick, and Danny Klein, of trademark infringement and deceptive business practices.
The 44-page suit filed Wednesday in US District Court in Boston claims that Geils owns the "J. Geils Band” trademark, and the band is "seeking to misappropriate and steal” the name from Geils by touring without him.
"Mr. Geils has this trademark and never transferred it to anybody,” said attorney Chuck Grimes, who represents Geils. "These guys performed in Mr. Geils’s band, but that doesn’t give them the right to grab the name.”
Geils trademarked the band name in 2009 so it will be interesting to see what case the rest of the band put forward in defence.