Trey Songz Slaps Reality Star With Lawsuit Over Catch Phrase
Henry S. Dziekan III, Getty Images
Is there litigation in the air? YUUUP.
R&B heartthrob Trey Songz is suing a reality star over his trademark “YUUUP.” The New York Post reports that Songz (nee Tremaine Neverson) shot over a cease and desist letter to ‘Storage Wars’ auctioneer Dave “The Mogul” Hester. The letter orders Hester to stop saying “YUUUP” during auctions. Doesn’t that seem like a bit much? It’d be like Paris Hilton suing everyone who touches a stove for yelping, “That’s hot!”
More understandable is the second part of the ‘Top of the World‘ crooner’s suit, which demands Hester to stop printing “YUUUP” on t-shirts and merchandise to avoid profiting from his catch phrase — which Trigga claims has been his signature sound since ’09. Problem is, Hester trademarked the phrase himself in September.
Court papers reveal that the two peeved parties can’t even agree on what the phrase actually even sounds like or means, which makes the entire suit all the more baffling. Hester claims that Songz’s version of the phrase “resembles an animal-like or non-human squeal which begins with a distinct ‘yeeee’ sound before finishing with a squeal-like ‘uuuup’ sound.” Hester’s suit further claims that Songz’s “YUUUP” is “distinct and different from Hester’s more monosyllabic sounding guttural auction bidding phrase … Which is meant to convey the meaning of ‘yes.’”
This seems pretty nonsensical. Most folks probably didn’t know ‘Storage Wars’ existed until this suit was filed, so it seems like Songz is doing himself a disservice by evening drawing attention to the show. Do we think this case will be dismissed from court? YUUUP.
Listen to Trey Songz Say ‘YUUUP‘
Listen to Dave Hester Say ‘YUUUP’
