Photo Credit: Drew de F Fawkes / CC by 2.0
Twenty One Pilots’ trademark infringement case against Temu will proceed with an amended complaint after a judge denied an attempt to dismiss it.
Online marketplace Temu has faced several trademark infringement lawsuits from artists incensed over the selling of bootleg merchandise. But the company tried to have the claims dismissed—both in the matter lodged by Twenty One Pilots and by MF Doom—on the basis that it cannot be held liable for infringement by third-party sellers.
However, Twenty One Pilots has since amended their complaint to assert several distinct causes of action to prevent Temu from immediately moving for dismissal. Now, their amended filing claims that Temu has much more control over its own marketplace than it would have the court believe, effectively functioning as a direct seller.
The claims in the amended complaint include trademark infringement, unfair competition, misappropriation of likeness, and statutory damages that include up to $2,000,000 per counterfeit mark per type of product sold.
The “Stressed Out” band asserts that Temu is not only a “vertically integrated manufacturer and retailer,” but a “veritable swamp of infringing and otherwise illegal products.” Yikes.
As a result of the amended complaint, the case against Temu will now move forward.
The MF Doom estate could take a similar approach; their trademark lawsuit against Temu was dismissed in December after the company again argued that it could not be held liable for its “independent third-party sellers.” But the MF Doom case was dismissed with room to amend the complaint, meaning they could end up with a similar outcome to that of Twenty One Pilots should they restructure their argument and choose to refile.
“Temu manufactured and sold a myriad of items that are counterfeit or blatant copies of Plaintiff’s artwork, products, trademarks, and intellectual property,” the estate’s suit explained.
That’s interesting, given the use of the word “manufactured.” One would think that would help buoy their case against Temu, much like the Twenty One Pilots suit.
“Temu respects the intellectual property rights of others and takes all infringement claims seriously,” said a spokesperson for the company back in December. “While we uphold this commitment, we will vigorously defend ourselves against unfounded allegations.”