Staind settles lawsuit over name

Staind has settled its longstanding legal battle with musician Mike Stainbrook over the use of the name The Stain, according to Blabbermouth.net. The Ohio-based Stainbrook and the New England quartet have sued each other repeatedly over the last few years, with Staind claiming in its last lawsuit that Stainbrook tried to re-register "The Stain" as a trademark despite the fact that the band purchased it from him in 1999. Stainbrook in turn alleged that Staind and its representatives used unlawful conduct to obtain the rights to the name, claiming that one label exec falsely promised to help Stainbrook's career to persuade him to sell his trademark rights.

The new settlement reportedly renegotiated parts of the 1999 agreement, allowing both Stainbrook and Staind to use the trademark in certain areas.

Staind sued Stainbrook unsuccessfully in 2003, which led the musician to file a request with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office to cancel Staind's use of the trademark. As a result, Staind sued Stainbrook again last year, leading to his countersuit.

Stainbrook claims that his refusal to license the trademark previously led the band Lit to change their name from Stain, and also forced Sony Music to pull Living Colour's 1993 album, titled Stain, from circulation. He has used Stain and The Stain professionally since 1980.

Staind finished touring in support of last year's Chapter V album last night (Sunday, October 8th) in Corpus Christi, Texas. The band will release a CD/DVD collection called The Singles on November 14th.

Staind vocalist Aaron Lewis will begin a solo tour on December 27th and is working on a reality TV series called The Crew.
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