Forgot about Dre?
Losing a three-year trademark battle with gynaecologist and “sexpert” Dr. Drai, famous producer/rapper Dr. Dre objected to a trademark application by the doctor and “media personality” whose nickname is spelled differently but sounds the same as the music producer’s.
Going by a shortened version of his name, Dr. Draion Burch has written books such as 20 Things You May Not Know About the Vagina and 20 Things You May Not Know About the Penis.
But the music star – whose real name is Andre Young – objected, arguing the public would get confused and assume a connection between the two parties.
In a document published by the US Patent and Trademark Office, it said Dr. Dre argued that his “name in the recording industry is sufficiently related to applicant’s ‘MP3 files, magazines, audio books, a series of books and other types of public performance.”
Continuing he added that “it is beyond question that the applicant’s marks would be viewed by the public as pointing uniquely and unmistakably to Dr. Dre” being that Dr. Drai had applied to use the name “in connection with services that relate to the (entertainment) industry in which Dr Dre is recognised.”
The US Patent and Trademark Office dismissed the objection, believing that consumers would be able to distinguish between the 53-year-old musician, responsible for artists such as Snoop Dogg, 50 Cent, Eminem and Kendrick Lamar, and the medical doctor, who is a public speaker on women’s health issues.
It was said that the rapper “failed to show that a connection would be presumed in the mind of the consuming public when the applicant’s Dr. Drai marks are used in connection with its applied-for goods and services.”
According to Dr. Drai, he was not using the name in order to further his career as he finds the lyrics of some of Dr. Dre’s records offensive, especially to the women he works with.
He said: “I cannot be associated with anyone that has any kind of misogynistic speech because it’s a bad reflection on me as a doctor.”
I’m pretty certain we’ll be able to work out the difference between the two, won’t we?
Dr. Dre stars in the new Netflix series The Defiant Ones, watch our interview with Director Allen Hughes here.
