Staff Writer
Hip-hop stars, Pharrell Williams and Will.i.am have been locking horns in court recently over the use of phrase “I am”.
Apparently, our favorite black eyed pea mailed Pharrell a cease and desist letter several months ago claiming that he could not use the “I Am Other” moniker for his brand name because it’s too similar to will.i.am’s own “i.am+” trademark.
Pharrell responded at the time by suing will.i.am, urging the courts to grant him use of the phrase which he insists does not violate Will.i.am’s trademark.
Will.i.am agreed to disagree, counter-suing with the claim that because both stars “achieved great distinction” in the music industry as hip-hop performers, their similar brand names would appeal to a similar consumer market, and cause confusion.
The latest news comes with the development that Pharrell has now asked the court to disregard will.i.am’s lawsuit.
TMZ uncovered court documents that show Pharrell has made the claim that because will.i.am hasn’t been as successful as him, there would be no consumer confusion about which star is connected to “I Am Other”.
Pharrell went on to describe will.i.am’s many similar altercations regarding copyright infringement. Apparently, the coach on The Voice UK has been a defendant in nearly 12 lawsuits, similar to this one, which have also included debates over song plagiarism.
Pharrell has also claimed that will.i.am should be made to pay for his lawyers.
Will.i.am’s rep was approached by several news sources for comment on this leaked development but refused to release a statement.
It’ll be interesting to see how this one pans out as both sides seem to have a valid argument.
http://www.Twitter.com/PopWrapped
https://pop-wrapped.tumblr.com
http://www.SoundCloud.com/PopWrapped
http://www.Facebook.com/PopWrapped
http://www.Instagram.com/PopWrapped
http://www.Pinterest.com/PopWrapped
http://www.YouTube.com/PopWrapped
https://pop-wrapped.wordpress.com
http://www.PopWrapped.com
Author
