Hugo vs Hugo: Roc Nation Sued Over Singer Hugo’s Name

(AllHipHop News) Jay-Z’s Roc Nation has been hit with a lawsuit by a New York-based artist named Hugo, who claims the entertainment company has signed an artist using his trademarked name. Jon Hugo Ungar filed the lawsuit in United States District Court, Central District of California on April 17. The lawsuit claims that Jon Hugo […]

(AllHipHop News) Jay-Z’s Roc Nation has been hit with a lawsuit by a New York-based artist named Hugo, who claims the entertainment company has signed an artist using his trademarked name.

Jon Hugo Ungar filed the lawsuit in United States District Court, Central District of California on April 17.

The lawsuit claims that Jon Hugo Ungar has performed under the name Hugo for over 10 years.

According to Ungar, he received the trademark for Hugo in December 2010.

Problems arose when Roc Nation signed a popular Thai/British artist named Hugo, real name Hugo Chakrabongse Levy.

Hugo Chakrabongse Levy, who worked with Beyonce and has covered Jay-Z’s#### single “99 Problems,” joined Roc Nation in 2010 and has since been performing around the world.

Ungar’s lawsuit against Roc Nation claims the confusion with the name Hugo has already caused him problems in the marketplace.

Even though Ungar’s best-selling CD as Hugo has only sold about 3,000 copies, he encounters other issues.

The similar names have been causing confusion in the marketplace, according to Ungar’s lawsuit.

For instance, Ungar was booked to perform at the annual CMJ Music Marathon and CMJ printed a link to Hugo Chakrabongse Levy’s website, as opposed to Ungar’s own website.

The same issue happened when Ungar was attempting to sell tickets to a show via Ticketmaster.

Ungar claims that Roc Nation is aware that he owns the rights to the name Hugo, but the company continues to infringe on his trademark.

The lawsuit also claims that  Hug Chakrabongse Levy attended one of Ungar’s shows as Hugo in May 2010 at the Mercury Lounge in New York City.

Ungar claims Hugo Chakrabongse Levy still used the Hugo name despite seeing his performance using the moniker.

Ungar is suing for federal trademark infringement, unfair competition and requesting a judge to bar Roc Nation from using the name Hugo.