Not so fishy afterall. Just an overzealous restaurant in LA that decided that they were the only ones that could use the name Koi. So the little local guys had no choice but to change the name, or live with more legal battles. The Mai Thai spin off may be doing some spinning of it's own. Rumors of a name change, menu, and style update are bouncing down the alley off of 8th street.
UPDATE Here is the new sign- Notice the old Koi sign in the background. Not sure of the ownership/staffing details. Anybody?Anybody?