T.I is facing more legal woes. Back in January a producer filed a copyright complaint against Tip over his Grammy Award Winning song, “What You Know” and now he’s facing legal issues over his AKOO clothing line.
It was just a few weeks ago that AKOO was forced by the city of Newark to remove a provocative billboard and now they’re battling trademark infringement allegations over the AKOO name!
Jason Geter & T.I. in AKOO
A company called Akoo International, which markets itself as the world’s largest social music television network, has filed a lawsuit against T.I. and Akoo Clothing over trademark infringement.
The lawsuit alleges that the company has owned rights to the name “Akoo” for several years. Way before the Tip’s urban line came long and it wants full use of the name it had first.
The company’s CEO, Niko Drakoulis issued the following statement explaining the basis for the lawsuit:
Akoo has been recognized as a leading social TV platform for connecting brand advertisers with millions of our engaged viewers. Our primary obligation and goal is to prevent confusion of trademark law.
At the same time, Akoo has been invested nearly a decade of effort and substantial capital to deploy its network and will do everything in its power to protect its brand.
Wowzers!? Apparently “Akoo International” provides video programming to over 86 million monthly customers on-the-go, allowing them to use mobile phones to control on-screen programming.
The company explained that the lawsuit was necessary in order to protect it’s clients from confusing the two brands, which are both marketed in shopping mall and entertainment arenas.
The media company even went as far as citing Akoo Clothing’s billboard fiasco in Newark for drawing negative publicity to their brand.
I have a solution. Tip said that AKOO stands for “A King of One’s Self”, which the proper acronym would be AKOOS. Shoot… just add an “S” and the problem is solved!? Walla!
Jason… send me my check! :)]
