VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. — Virginia Beach icons Pharrell Williams and Chad Hugo are locked in a legal battle.
The duo first came together in a 1992 Virginia Beach talent show. Pharrell was on the drums and Hugo playing the saxophone. They called themselves "The Neptunes."
Under that same name, they’ve written hit after hit for some of music’s biggest names: "Hollaback Girl" by Gwen Stefani, Justin Timberlake’s "Rock Your Body" and Snoop Dog’s "Drop It Like It’s Hot." The duo was inducted into the Songwriter's Hall of Fame in 2022.
13News Now obtained a new legal complaint filed by Hugo that states he and Pharrell are equal partners of The Neptunes. However, the complaint claims Pharrell filed to obtain trademarks in his name only, failing to name Hugo as co-owner, calling the move "fraud."
The legal filing claims his failure to do so “reflects an intentional effort to mislead the U.S Patent and Trademark Office.”
Hugo is now asking a judge to cancel those trademark registrations, saying Pharrell acted in bad faith.
We reached out to Pharrell and his team for comment. His attorney told us there was no ill intent, saying, in part: "Pharrell is surprised by this. We have reached out on multiple occasions to share in the ownership and administration of the trademark and will continue to make that offer. The goal here was to make sure a third party doesn’t get a hold of the trademark and to guarantee Chad and Pharrell share in ownership and administration.”
We've reached out to Hugo's legal team, but have not heard back.