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Pharrell and Will.i.am have come to some sort of agreement about ownership of the words “I am”

By Andy Malt | Published on Thursday 13 March 2014

Pharrell Williams and Will.i.am have reached a settlement in their legal battle over which one of them owns the words “I am”.

As previously reported, Will.i.am objected to Pharrell’s application to register the name of his company I Am Other as a trademark, saying that doing so would “likely dilute” his existing I Am and Will.i.am marks. I Am being Will.i.am’s clothing brand.

Though the one-time Black Eyed Pea quickly pointed out that, despite reports to the contrary, he wasn’t actually suing Williams in the name battle, adding that it was “silly” to even suggest he would ever do such a thing. Rather, he was contesting Pharrell’s trademark application. Though when Williams did then go properly legal in relation to the trademark dispute, Will.i.am followed with a countersuit. Not so silly a suggestion after all then.

Anyway, I think that brings us all up to speed. Or just confuses everything. Basically, two popstars with similar company names got in a bit of a flap and some lawyers made a load of money. But now it’s all over. It seems that after Pharrell pointed out that the words “I am” are used by lots of people, including various bands and the Dr Seuss character Sam I Am, Will.i.am has backed down. Well, maybe anyway.

Exactly what has been agreed isn’t yet clear, but The Hollywood Reporter says that both parties have informed a judge that there will be no need for a trial after all, saying that they have reached an agreement “in principle”. They are now drafting the exact terms of the settlement. Which means, unless that process is just writing “let’s all stopping being so silly” on a piece of paper and stapling it to a wall, those lawyers are going to get a whole load more money. Yay lawyers!