In a surprising turn of events, music producer Chad Hugo has accused his long-time friend and production partner Pharrell Williams of attempting to gain sole control over the trademarks associated with their production and songwriting work as the Neptunes. According to Billboard, Hugo's lawyer filed a legal action in a federal tribunal last week, alleging that Williams and his company, PW IP Holdings LLC, fraudulently tried to register three separate trademarks for the Neptunes without involving Hugo, a violation of their longstanding agreement to share everything equally.

The filing stated, "Throughout their over thirty-year history, [Hugo] and Williams agreed to, and in fact, have divided all assets." It further alleged that by excluding and ignoring Hugo from the trademark applications for "The Neptunes," Williams committed fraud and acted in bad faith. The trademark applications in question were filed in 2022 and covered the use of the Neptunes name for streaming music, music videos, other content, and live performances.

Hugo's attorneys argue that Williams knowingly and intentionally filed the trademark applications without consulting Hugo, claiming that there was no written or oral agreement giving Williams or PW IP Holdings the authority to register the trademarks unilaterally. In response, Williams' representative released a statement asserting that they had made multiple attempts to include Hugo in the ownership and administration of the trademark, aiming to prevent third-party interference.

The legal filing acknowledges that Hugo's team had reached out to Williams repeatedly about the matter and that Williams' attorneys admitted Hugo's equal co-ownership of the trademarks, agreeing to include him in the application. However, the filing alleges that Williams' company later demanded onerous business terms that would not have been fair to Hugo, without providing further details.

The Neptunes, comprised of Hugo and Williams, achieved great success as producers and songwriters, with numerous hits throughout the 2000s. While their output has decreased since then, they continue to work regularly with other artists. Interestingly, their most recent credits came in 2022, the same year the alleged trademark applications were filed without Hugo's involvement. During that year, they collaborated with Rosalía, Omar Apollo, and Brent Faiyaz, and were also inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame.

As the legal battle unfolds, it remains to be seen how the dispute between two esteemed musical collaborators will be resolved, and whether the Neptunes' legacy will continue to be shared equally or face contentious ownership issues.