Supreme is being sued by Sick of It All over what the New York hardcore band says is the “improper and illegal use of a nearly identical logo” to their own.
At the center of the lawsuit is the brand's recent collaboration with Mobb Deep, specifically its Dragon Tee design from a lineup of t-shirts released back in June. On the official Supreme site, the shirt (available in multiple colorways) is described as encompassing “original artwork from Mobb Deep’s single ‘Drop a Gem On ‘Em.’”
As fans will note, the same dragon was indeed used in the rollout of the 1996 single, taken from the duo's third studio album Hell on Earth. But as Billboard's Bill Donahue reports, Sick of It All says it has been using their “inherently distinctive, incontestable, and famous logo” since “at least” 1987.
The band’s dragon logo has been used on the cover art of several of their albums, including Scratch the Surface in 1994 and Wake the Sleeping Dragon! In 2018. As such, the band—which is suing through its Bush Baby Zamagate company—says that Supreme and Mobb Deep have engaged in “willful infringement and unfair competition” by using their “knockoff logo.”
Further alleged in the suit is that Sick of It All has taken action against Mobb Deep over the logo in the past, including in 2003. More recently, the suit alleges, the band demanded an accounting of sales of their logo.
“Defendants refused to comply with those demands,” the suit states.
Named in the lawsuit are Chapter 4 Corp (doing business as Supreme), Kejuan Muchita Inc. (Havoc of Mobb Deep), and the executors of the estate of the late Albert Jackson Johnson, a.k.a. Prodigy.
Complex has reached out to a lawyer for Sick of It All, as well as to Supreme, for comment. This story may be updated.
Interestingly enough, Sick of It All and Mobb Deep appeared together in song form back in 2000. The track, a new take on Deep's "Survival of the Fittest," was featured on the Loud Rocks compilation released by Loud Records.
