Drake sued by iconic clothing brand for alleged trademark infringement

Drake is being sued for using a phrase on his merchandise that also happens to be the name of an established clothing brand.

Tuesday (June 12), Billboard reported that fashion company Members Only filed a lawsuit against Drizzy's Away From Home Touring Inc. in New York federal court for violating their trademarks.

The case involves the Canadian superstar selling merchandise online as well as on his It's All a Blur tour which is stamped “Members Only.” It is important to note that he is not accused of distributing counterfeit products, since the phrase in question is also the title of a song broadcast on For all dogs Last year.

On this subject, the current owners of the brand, JR Apparel World LLC, argued: “The fact that 'Members Only' is a song from Drake's album 'For All the Dogs' does not eliminate the risk of confusion and does not give it a license to use our customers' “Members Only” trademarks in such a confusing manner, particularly on or in connection with articles of clothing.

“Away From Home's use of the term 'Members Only'…is likely to cause confusion, error, and deception among consumers as to the origin of counterfeit Away From Home T-shirts,” the complaint continues. .

“Away From Home has sold…products bearing the 'Members Only' trademark that are identical, overlapping and/or very similar to products sold by JR Apparel bearing its MEMBERS Only trademarks,” the company's lawyers write.

Under U.S. trademark law, the context in which the expression was used is essential.

The 6 God's decision to release a song called “Members Only” doesn't create confusion with the company of the same name, but selling merchandise with those words does because they've been selling the same items for decades now.

For this reason, Members Only claimed that his status as a “famous name” was being exploited and misrepresented by Drake's products.

The 37-year-old rapper and singer has not yet commented on this ordeal.