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Pharrell Williams and Chad Hugo, collectively known as the Neptunes, are currently in court over the rights to the group’s name. In the court claims, Chad Hugo states that Pharrell Williams is fraudulently attempting to control the Neptunes trademarks for personal gain.
Billboard reports that Hugo, 50, and Williams, also 50, are embroiled in a legal tussle over the Neptunes name rights after Hugo and his attorneys filed a claim that Williams is seeking to register trademarks for the band’s name. According to Hugo’s side, this violates an agreement the pair made to split all things related to the group name equally.

From Billboard:

“Throughout their over thirty year history, [Hugo] and Williams agreed to, and in fact, have divided all assets,” wrote Hugo’s attorney Kenneth D. Freundlich, a prominent music industry litigator. “By ignoring and excluding [Hugo] from the any and all applications filed by applicant for the mark ‘The Neptunes,’ applicant has committed fraud in securing the trademarks and acted in bad faith.”
Via a representative, Williams offered a statement to Billboard explaining that the move was not to squeeze out Hugo but instead to make certain no other parties could lay claim to the name.
“Pharrell is surprised by this. We have reached out on multiple occasions to share in the ownership and administration of the trademark and will continue to make that offer. The goal here was to make sure a third party doesn’t get a hold of the trademark and to guarantee Chad and Pharrell share in ownership and administration,” read the statement.
Freundlich countered the statement by writing, “If Pharrell’s intent was to include Chad in the filing, he should have registered it in the name of them jointly or as a partnership and not in his own name.”
The Neptunes have been responsible for a bevy of hit songs, producing smashes for the likes of The Clipse, Snoop Dogg, Nelly, Justin Timberlake, and others.
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Photo: Gary Gershoff / Getty