“I.am what i.am,” says will.i.am. “No.U.R.not,” says TTAB.
On November 20, 2015 Scott Slavick and Arturo Gonzalez's article, "Musician Will.i.am Gets Black Eye At TTAB" was published in Law360.
Will.i.am Gets Slammed at TTAB; Slavick and Gonzalez in Law360
"Where is the love?" is the title of one of pop band The Black Eyed Peas' early hits. Right now it's likely also the lament of front-man William Adams, famous as will.i.am, one of the musical group's prominent members. In three separate opinions, the Trade Trial and Appeal Board affirmed the USPTO's confusion rejections to register the mark I am mark.
The case is interesting not only because of Adams' failure to capitalize on his fame, argue Brinks' Scott J. Slavick and Arturo I. Gonzalez in a recent expert commentary at IP Law360, but also because of what strategies the celebrity singer did not adopt at the TTAB. Will.i.am had other options on appeal, and didn't exercise them. And, add the authors, after Hana v. Hana at SCOTUS, tacking might work in a jury trial.
In the end, Slavick and Gonzalez ask if the outcome might have differed had the applicant's mark been "I am by will.i.am." Say the authors, "We'll nev.a.no."
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