Hall & Oates going through a legal thing too


https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/pharrell-williams-chad-hugo-legal-fight-neptunes-trademark-1234997394/


Pharrell Accused of ‘Fraudulently’ Filing for Neptunes Trademarks Without Chad Hugo

Hugo took legal action against his longtime friend and production partner, saying he was not consulted about the applications

BY JON BLISTEIN

APRIL 1, 2024


Chad Hugo accused his longtime friend and production partner Pharrell Williams of “fraudulently” trying to gain sole control over the trademarks tied to their production and songwriting work as the Neptunes.

As Billboard reports, Hugo’s lawyer filed a legal action in a federal tribunal last week accusing Pharrell and his company, PW IP Holdings LLC, of trying to register three separate trademarks for the Neptunes without involving Hugo — an alleged violation of the duo’s longstanding agreement to share everything equally.

“Throughout their over thirty year history, (Hugo) and Williams agreed to, and in fact, have divided all assets,” the filing stated. “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.”

The trademark applications Williams and his company filed pertained to the use of the Neptunes name for streaming music, music videos, and other content, as well as live performances. While the legal action was just brought last week, the applications were first issued in 2022.


Hugo’s attorneys argued that Williams “knowingly and intentionally” filed the trademark applications without consulting Hugo, adding: “Nothing, either written or oral, provided Williams or (PW IP Holdings) with the unilateral authority to register the trademarks.”

A rep for Williams pushed back on this characterization in a statement, though, claiming: “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.” (A lawyer for Hugo did not return Rolling Stone’s request for comment.)


Hugo’s filing does acknowledge that his legal team “repeatedly” reached out to Williams about the issue, and that Williams’ lawyers “admitted that (Hugo) is equal co-owner of the trademarks” and would include him in the application. But the filing argues that Williams’ company subsequently demanded “onerous business terms” that would not have been fair to Hugo (no details about those terms, however, were given).

As the Neptunes, Hugo and Williams produced and wrote some of the biggest, most indelible hits of the 2000s. Though not as prolific as they were in their heyday, the Neptunes still produce music for others fairly regularly. Interestingly, their most recent credits came in 2022, the same year Williams and his company allegedly filed the trademark applications without consulting Hugo. That year, they worked on music for Rosalía, Omar Apollo, and Brent Faiyaz; they were also inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame.

It was just a couple weeks ago I stumbled across that Brent Faiyaz/Drake track and couldn't get over the idea that there was a new Neptunes track out there.


Not because it didn't SOUND like a Neptunes song, but as best I can remember that name was very specifically retired at some point 'cause Chad was done. To the point I'm so disappointed by how surprised I am to see that it's all over the credits for Timberlake's Man of the Woods album.


But seeing how relatively frequently it's been used since that album...and what projects its attached to...it really does feel like exploitation if Chad is either less involved or especially not equally compensated.


~~~~~~~~~
"This is the streets, and I am the trap." � Jay Bilas
http://www.popmatters.com/pm/archive/contributor/517
Hip Hop Handbook: http://tinyurl.com/ll4kzz

I looked up all the filings because I work as a patent and trademark lawyer
Pharrell is sole on all the filings...even the ones that have been cancelled.
Last cancelled trademark was yesterday....so the Trademark office has been supplied with evidence of what Chad is saying.
It is understandable to want to trademark
Looks like Pharrell was trying to be an admin for the neptunes stuff incase Chad is not involved...and if Chad is involved Pharrell will admin whatever is made.
17 year old me is sad

When we started seeing Pharell in all the videos we always wondered how that would work with Chad and their brand.

but why couldn’t Pharell just use another name when business started splitting and it eas clear Pharell was going to be the star of the duo?

Hate to see it but never surprised by this stuff.

put Chad's name on any Neptunes shit, and give him his half.

It kind of sounds like Chad wants to retire the Neptunes trademark and not do anything new under the brand and Pharrel wants to keep it going.

One of my biggest music mysteries was trying to figure out each of their contributions to Neptunes success. Has Chad ever done any solo stuff of his own?


**********
"Everyone has a plan until you punch them in the face. Then they don't have a plan anymore." (c) Mike Tyson

"what's a leader if he isn't reluctant"

...was the Internet song he produced (he was in the video)


Dontcha

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=28JAS1ZUUqw


...and he was the one mainly involved with Kenna:


Freetime

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0ggbRTRDFOI

and maybe its a rumor but I thought I heard Chad is the board, knobs guy and Pharell is the face of the duo.

could all be huff tho

>and maybe its a rumor but I thought I heard Chad is the
>board, knobs guy and Pharell is the face of the duo.

...there has definitely been some sauce missing once they split. that said, Pharrell has still made some great songs/beats since.

power duo.

but...Pharrell be on them keys

I’ve been wondering where he’s been for a minute. Do all three of them make up Neptunes?

on the plus side we don't have to worry about Chad showing up on Club Shay Shay or The Breakfast Club doing a fiery/bitter rant based on the only solo I've ever seen of him where it sounded like he was being held hostage and forced to do an interview.

at this point?

I assumed this was in reference to older material, but if it's about new stuff that Pharrell is doing without Chad's involvement it seems like it would make more sense for him to just put it out under his own name or something different and just keep the money himself

Maybe I’m missing something...I wonder if they are still friends if it’s come to this

Unless they are angling for some kind of 2000s revival.

**********
"Everyone has a plan until you punch them in the face. Then they don't have a plan anymore." (c) Mike Tyson

"what's a leader if he isn't reluctant"

especially with pharrell's full jump into fashion. i'm guessing he'd like to use the Neptunes name and logos for some shit.

bet it was all love and then one day you wake up and realize you are doing all the work and still splitting projects with a guy who aint in the room

sucks but its business

The guy is either on drugs or has severe social anxiety

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=alizrRKF4zc

He seems introverted and like he hates being in the public eye, but I'm not sure it's anything more than that. Some people are incredibly talented, but aren't "stars". He's one of them.

felt like he was about to snap by the end of the video

he had those weird eyes like “tf you keep asking me all these questions?”

half them dudes are introverts who spend all day alone twisting knobs and using math to craft hits

the “cool” producers who can party and vibe out are rare..

a lot of those dudes are on the edge

Dude is massively successful & talented (literally the most successful person in the room), but still gets judged negatively because he doesn't communicate like a common basic person.

you gotta watch those quiet dudes

He probably can't wait to get back into the lab and work on the next project. I can relate.

https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/the-neptunes-chad-hugo-lawsuit-pharrell-williams-royalties-1235504228/

COURTS AND CRIME


The Neptunes’ Chad Hugo Sues Pharrell Williams Over Unpaid Royalties


After claiming that Williams tried to gain sole control of Neptunes name in previous lawsuit, Hugo now says production partner owes him $1 million for N.E.R.D.'s No One Ever Really Dies

By Daniel Kreps

January 24, 2026


The Neptunes’ Chad Hugo is once again suing his production partner Pharrell Williams, claiming he’s owed $1 million from one of the duo’s N.E.R.D. albums.

Lawyers for Hugo filed the lawsuit Friday against Williams, alleging that there has been a “systematic denial” of Hugo’s royalties and rights as a partner in the Neptunes and N.E.R.D., specifically when it comes to the duo’s 2017 album No One Ever Really Dies.

“Williams engaged in self-dealing, concealed material information, and … diverted revenues owed to plaintiff,” Hugo’s attorney Brent J. Lehman wrote in the lawsuit (via Billboard). “Such willful, fraudulent, and malicious conduct warrants the imposition of punitive damages.”

This isn’t the first time Hugo has sued his now-former friend and production partner: In 2024, Hugo filed a lawsuit alleging that Williams had “fraudulently” tried to gain sole control over the trademarks tied to their production and songwriting work as the Neptunes, including registering three separate trademarks for the Neptunes without involving Hugo — an alleged violation of the duo’s longstanding agreement to share everything equally.


As the Neptunes, Hugo and Williams produced and wrote some of the biggest hits of the 2000s, including Snoop Dogg’s “Drop It Like It’s Hot,” Gwen Stefani’s “Hollaback Girl” and Justin Timberlake’s “Rock Your Body,” in addition to their work as N.E.R.D. The Neptunes last produced songs together in 2022, the same year they were inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame.


However, following Hugo’s 2024 lawsuit, Williams revealed in an interview that he was no longer on speaking terms with his Neptunes production partner. Since that initial legal action, Hugo’s new lawsuit claims, Williams has continued not to provide Hugo with the necessary accounting and royalties related to their Neptunes and N.E.R.D. output.


A rep for Williams did not respond to Rolling Stone’s request for comment at press time.

“After years of obfuscation by Pharrell and his team, Mr. Hugo had no choice but to seek substantial compensation and accountability in court,” Lehman said in a statement to Billboard. “We look forward to presenting the evidence and obtaining the full relief the law provides.”

until now.

https://x.com/ChadHugo/status/2079778488408498582


**********
"Everyone has a plan until you punch them in the face. Then they don't have a plan anymore." (c) Mike Tyson

"what's a leader if he isn't reluctant"

I always considered the first Kenna album as Chad's solo music.

This short clip reminded me of when the Neps had the Kelis website playing "Milkshake" on loop on the landing page.

this shit knocks too and I don’t have to hear that wack ass Pharell (false)setto

>this shit knocks too and I don’t have to hear that wack ass
>Pharell (false)setto
>
>

Too many falsetto Pharrell hooks. Otherwise, it was a 10/10 album to me.

Chad did his thing with that, the production bangs, especially for the time. I was able to find the whole album instrumentals a few years back, too

shit is hard. only negative? too short. can we at least get songs that are 2 mins 30 secs??? lol.

love that Leikeli47 is on this. she's the most underrated female rapper out, hands down. this should give her some deserved shine being associated with somoene so beloved like Hugo.

her 2025 album is heat.

Song is pretty good tho.

I hope it’s a “no hard feelings” thing where people like Tyler and The Clipse can get on this project and not about choosing sides.

aka

can we please drop the 'female rapper' crap? a rapper is a rapper. either you got bars or you don't. either your shit bangs or it doesn't.

period.

d

"i do more for both our communities than you'll ever know." - Heinz
"But rest assured, in my luxurious house built on the backs of people darker than me, I am sipping fine scotch and scoffing at how stupid you are." - bshelly

cuz, if i were to say, "she's the most underrated rapper" well, that wouldn't be true (to me).

so, my point stands.

I think in the streaming era we can all be in our own bubbles, and could easily be missing things we’d like. That’s a big reason I still come here - to talk about what I like, and to be put on to music I’d probably like based on the other person still coming to OKP too.