Gas Drawls is going all gas, no brakes in a newly filed lawsuit against e-commerce company Temu.
Musician Daniel Dumile, more commonly known by his stage name, MF Doom, co-founded Gas Drawls before his sudden death in 2020. The company now manages the MF Doom estate and owns the intellectual property associated with the rapper. Gas Drawls sells MF Doom merchandise and collectibles on its site, and filed a complaint Monday in California’s Central District alleging that Temu and several unnamed Doe defendants infringed on its trademarks.
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The marks at issue include the words “MF DOOM,” a graffiti-style “MF DOOM” image, “DOOM” in a bubble design and an image of the mask MF Doom would wear on stage, among others.
Attorneys for Gas Drawls included pages’ worth of allegedly infringing products. They alleged the existence of such products “devalues the [trademarks] as well as [Gas Drawls]’s proprietary and licensed products and MF Doom’s status in the hip hop milieu,” while also marking “a false association between MF Doom and Temu.”
“Temu manufactured and sold a myriad of items that are counterfeit or blatant copies of Plaintiff’s artwork, products, trademarks and intellectual property,” Gas Drawls alleged. “Instead of policing its products to guard against infringement, it chooses to profit from sales of such products, in disregard of artist and brand rights.”
Gas Drawls alleged that, in allowing the sale of infringing products, Temu has confused consumers looking for real, verified MF Doom merchandise, in turn causing damage to the value of the company’s trademarks.
Gas Drawls said that it had previously alerted Temu to the alleged intellectual property violations, but noted that “Temu failed to meaningfully respond, necessitating this action.”
Throughout the complaint, Gas Drawls also dredged up other legal actions Temu finds itself the subject of, including lawsuits filed by the attorneys general of several states. It stated that the China-founded marketplace is “widely understood to be one of the most unethical companies operating in today’s global marketplace.”
Temu positions itself as a marketplace, which is to say that it enables third-party sellers to hawk goods via its platform. But Gas Drawls alleged in the complaint that “Temu is known to exercise ironclad control over what products are sold on its platform, how much they are sold for and how they are manufactured,” leaving it open to legal liability for intellectual property-related claims.
The company has brought several charges, including trademark infringement and unfair competition, against Temu, alleging that any infringing actions it took were done “willfully, maliciously and oppressively, and with full knowledge of the adverse effects of their actions on [Gas Drawls].”
Gas Drawls has requested a jury trial and is seeking millions of dollars in damages. It has also asked that Temu be required to remove any advertising or marketing for the allegedly infringing products and that the company be permanently enjoined from infringing on Gas Drawls’ intellectual property.
A spokesperson for Temu said the company plans to defend itself.
“Temu respects the intellectual property rights of others and takes all infringement claims seriously. While we uphold this commitment, we will vigorously defend ourselves against unfounded allegations,” the spokesperson said in an email.
