Judge Blocks Sublime Bandmembers From Using Bands Name

A Los Angeles judge has shut down an effort by former bandmembers of Sublime to perform under the name.

The preliminary injunction was issued today in a trademark lawsuit brought by the estate of the 90's ska-punk band's lead singer Bradley Nowell. Nowell died of a drug overdose in 1996, but surviving band members Eric Wilson and Bud Gaugh have continued to perform. For years they played as the Long Beach Dub Allstars but recently they revived the Sublime moniker when they recruited newcomer Rome Ramirez as lead vocalist.

That didn't sit well with Nowell's family. In advance of the band's performance at the Cypress Hill Smokeout Festival the Bradley Nowell estate and merchandising entity filed a trademark infringement suit on Oct. 21 in Los Angeles Superior Court.

"Prior to his untimely passing, both Bud and Eric acknowledged that Brad Nowell was the sole owner of the name Sublime," the Nowell family posted on the band's MySpace page. "It was Brad's expressed intention that no one use the name Sublime in any group that did not include him, and Brad even registered the trademark 'Sublime' under his own name."

Source Billboard

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