I Know I Am, But What Am I? Two Music Stars in a Trademark Dispute - Mark A. Fischer

If anyone can accurately be called ubiquitous itamp8217s musician producer and fashionista Pharrell Williams Whether itamp8217s cavorting with Robin Thicke and dancers in amp8220Blurred Linesamp8221 or on Daft Punkamp8217s song of the summer of 2013 amp8220Get Luckyamp8221 the man is everywhere Now heamp8217s in federal court too Heamp8217s adverse to william who also isnamp8217t unskilled in the art of ubiquity in the worlds of music fashion and technology both on his own and as a member of The Black Eyed PeasPharrell Williams has been using the phrase amp8220I AM OTHERamp8221 on a videodriven website established by Williams at wwwiamothercom His company is seeking to register that phrase as a trademark at the US Patent and Trademark Office William and his attorneys protestedAfter letters from the respective attorneys did not resolve the dispute Williamsamp8217 company I Am Other Entertainment sued william and his company IAmSymbolic on July 1 2013 for a amp8220declaratory judgmentamp8221 to the effect that it is not infringing the trademark rights of williamWilliamamp8217s company owns at least two federal trademark registrations one for WILLIAM for amp8220entertainment services namely live musical performances by a male artist and fashion designeramp8221 The other is I AM for amp8220clothing namely hats caps socks shirts tshirts sweatshirts tank tops shorts pants sweatpants jeans footwear namely shoes bootsamp8221 His company also has many pending applications for IAM in a wide variety of goods and services such as pet accessories jewelry education servicesPharrell Williams argues that the IAM formative is weak and that third parties use variations of I AM too Therefore his lawyers argue the william marks should not bar his companyamp8217s trademark registrations and use of his own trademark programIn correspondence responding to the claim of trademark infringement Pharrell Williamsamp8217s representatives suggested in a response that williamamp8217s use of IAM was based on Dr Seussamp8217s famous lines from Green Eggs and Ham amp8220Sam I am I am Sam I am Sam Sam I amamp8221 The response went on to say that Pharrell Williamsamp8217 use of I AM OTHER means amp8220I am something elseamp8221 and in no way suggests or trades off the trademarks of williamThe case also somehow suggests the comeback phrase popularized by Pee Wee Herman amp8220I know you are but what am Iamp8221Williamamp8217s attorneys have yet to file their formal answer in court so we haven39t yet entirely heard their side of the story In the exhibits to the complaint williamamp8217s lawyers points out the fame of william and the fact that the two stars know each other Despite the renown style and fame of these two highly talented litigants the case is at its heart a classical trademark case In other words the question before the court is whether or not in the relevant markets is the use of these dueling trademarks likely to cause confusion to the publicWe may not yet know who is right and who is wrong about I AM But as Dr Seuss once said amp8220Today you are You that is truer than true There is no one alive who is Youer than Youamp8221Mark A Fischer is a partner at Duane Morris LLP based in Boston and New York City His law practice is focused on solving problems and making deals for innovative companies institutions and individuals Mr Fischeramp8217s clients are typically in the creative industries such as new media social networking music interactive entertainment information technology software television publishing and toys He may be contacted at mafischerduanemorriscomRead all Mark39s MediaBizBloggers commentaries at Mark A FischerCheck us out on Facebook at MediaBizBloggerscomFollow our Twitter updates MediaBizBloggerThe opinions and points of view expressed in this commentary are exclusively the views of the author and do not necessarily represent the views of MediaBizBloggerscom management or associated bloggers MediaBizBloggers is an open thought leadership platform and readers may share their comments and opinions in response to all commentaries

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I Know I Am, But What Am I? Two Music Stars in a Trademark Dispute - Mark A. Fischer

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