The planets are in motion, and Pharrell Williams’s plans for the Neptunes may be in retrograde. Chad Hugo, half of the influential hip-hop production duo, has accused his partner of “fraudulently” trying to claim the group’s trademarks for himself. Billboard reported April 1 that Hugo’s attorneys recently filed an action at a federal tribunal claiming that Williams “has committed fraud” and “acted in bad faith” by filing to trademark the name “the Neptunes” by himself. The filings in question would trademark the duo’s name for streaming, music videos, and live performances. Williams’s company, PW IP Holdings LLC, made the three filings in 2022. Williams already owns the trademark for the Neptunes for music recordings and is also trying to trademark the name for merch. Hugo’s attorneys said in their filing that they would also separately try to void the recordings trademark. As a duo, The Neptunes have worked on music together as recently as 2022, the year they were inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame.
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https://www.vulture.com/article/pharrell-williams-chad-hugo-neptunes-legal-dispute.html
