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.”will.i.am appeared on “Good Morning America” this morning alongside Miley Cyrus for her performance of “Fall Down” earlier Wednesday (June 26) but has not yet commented on the legal matter. Request for comment by MTV News to will.i.am has not been returned by press time.
