BY: Denver Sean
Published 11 years ago
will.i.am is suing Pharrell Williams for using the words ‘I am’ in a campaign.
According to MTV:
will.i.am is taking legal action against Pharrell for his use of the “I am” phrase. In court documents obtained by Rolling Stone, the rapper/producer claims he owns the copyright to the two words and states that Pharrell’s logo for his creative brand “i am OTHER” looks “confusingly similar” to will.i.am’s “I AM” logo.
The “i am OTHER” brand was created by Williams as a “creative venture and way of life,” he writes on his site, with brands such as Billionaire Boys Club & ICECREAM and Brooklyn Machine Works as part of the company. In will.i.am’s opposition document, he claims that “the registration of the mark… is likely to dilute the I AM mark and the WILL.I.AM mark.”
Williams was “disappointed that Will, a fellow artist, would file a case against me,” he said in a statement following the lawsuit. He continued, “I am someone who likes to talk things out and, in fact, I attempted to do just that on many occasions. I am surprised in how this is being handled and I am confident that Will’s trademark claims will ultimately be found to be as meritless and ridiculous as I do.”
This is so dumb. will.i.am needs to have a seat.
Update: will.i.am. says he’s not suing Pharrell.
i.am not suing @Pharrell and I never was… what i.am doing is #iamangel TRANS4Ming inner cities with #STEAM tools… http://t.co/n7GOlWnV5T
— will.i.am (@iamwill) June 26, 2013
i.am not suing @Pharrell & I NEVER WAS.. What i.am doing is… #iamSCHOLARSHIP sending kids to school debt free. go2 http://t.co/yAye0SpV9h
— will.i.am (@iamwill) June 26, 2013