Pharrell Williams and Chad Hugo Battling Over Neptunes Trademark

Pharrell Williams and Chad Hugo sold millions of records together as The Neptunes but the two Virginia-made hitmakers are currently entangled in a legal war over use of the group’s name.

Recently uncovered court docs show Chad opposing a trademark filing of Pharrell’s company PW IP Holdings to lock up the rights to “The Neptunes” for music videos and other downloadable entertainment.

Pharrell’s reps told Billboard he was simply going out of his way to ensure no outsiders got hold of the Neptunes’ name, but Hugo’s attorney Kenneth D. Freundlich went as far as to declare Pharrell committed fraud by leaving his client’s name off the filing … without any input from Chad.