Pharrell Williams and Chad Hugo locked in legal battle over rights to 'Neptunes' name

Pharrell Williams and producer Chad Hugo – who together formed the prolific songwriting duo The Neptunes – are now battling each other in a legal dispute over the group's name after Hugo accused Williams of “fraudulently” seeking sole control of the trademarks.

Before Williams became a solo star, the Neptunes produced a string of radio hits in the early 2000s, including Nelly's “Hot in Herre,” Snoop Dogg's “Drop It Like It's Hot,” “Hollaback Girl” by Gwen Stefani and Justin Timberlake's “Rock Your.” Body.” The legendary duo, who have been friends since childhood, were inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2022.

But in a legal action filed last week in federal court, Hugo's lawyers accused Pharrell and his company of trying to unilaterally trademark the Neptunes name — a move they say violates their long-standing agreement that shared the always equally.

“Throughout their thirty-year history, [Hugo] and Williams agreed to, and in fact, split all of the assets,” Hugo's lawyer wrote Kenneth D. Freundlich, a prominent judge of the music industry. “By ignoring and excluding [Hugo] of any and all applications made by the applicant for the mark 'The Neptunes', the applicant has committed fraud in securing the marks and acted in bad faith.”

In a statement to Advertising sign On Monday, a representative for Pharrell said there was no ill intent behind the disputed trademark filings: “Pharrell is surprised by this. We have reached out many times to share ownership and management of the brand and will continue to make this offer. The goal here was to make sure a third party didn't own the brand and guarantee Chad and Pharrell's share of ownership and management.”

Hugo's attorney did not immediately return a request for comment Monday.

At issue are three separate applications to register 'The Neptunes' as a trademark – one covering use of the name in streaming music, another for music videos and other content and a third covering live performances. They were filed in 2022 by PW IP Holdings LLC, Pharrell's company that also owns such registrations for his band NERD, his Miami-based Goodtime Hotel and several other brands associated with the superstar.

In legal filings last week, Hugo's lawyers argued that Pharrell had “knowingly and intentionally” filed those applications without Hugo's required input, even though he was “fully aware” that either Hugo or their corporate entity should have been listed as a co-owner: “Nothing, whether written or oral, provided Williams or [PW IP Holdings] with the unilateral authority for the registration of trade marks.'

Hugo's lawyers said they had been in “repeated contact” with Pharrell's team about the issue and that the star's lawyers had “admitted that [Hugo] is an equal co-owner of the trademarks” and promised to include him — a claim consistent with Williams' statement Monday.

However, the suit alleges that the sharing never actually happened, in part because Pharrell's company has insisted on “onerous business terms” that would have deprived Hugo of proper control and compensation. The petition did not specify exactly what those “onerous” terms entailed.

Last week's filings targeted just the three recent trademark applications, but Hugo's case could potentially extend beyond those. This is because Pharrell's company has already successfully registered The Neptunes as a trademark for sound recordings and has another pending application to register the name for clothing and other merchandise.

In a filing last week, Hugo's lawyers said the trademark registrations covering the recordings “and possibly others” would be subject to future legal action aimed at invalidating them.