Dr. Dre has lost a copyright infringement case against a doctor.
The 53-year-old rapper – whose real name is Andre Young – had taken legal action when gynaecologist Dr. Draion M. Burch used a play on words and applied to trademark his name as Dr. Drai, but the music mogul argued similarities would result in "confusion", especially because the medic wanted to use the moniker for audiobooks and seminars.
However, the US trademark office have now dismissed the case, ruling that although the names are similar, the ‘I Need a Doctor’ hitmaker had failed to show people would be misled into buying the medic’s products rather than his own.
And as Dr. Burch commands a fee of around $5,000 for speaking engagements, customers would be likely to exercise a "higher degree of care" before booking him and parting ways with their cash.
The Pennsylvania-based doctor argued that Dre’s reputation and popularity would actually be a "bad reflection" on him because of his controversial lyrics, and insisted there would be no confusion because the music mogul has no medical background.
He said: "Dr. Dre is not a medical doctor, nor is he qualified to provide any type of medical services or sell products specifically in the medical or healthcare industry."
Dre can currently be seen in Netflix documentary ‘The Defiant Ones’, which chronicles his success from the streets of Compton to becoming the multi-millionaire head of Beats Entertainment, while Dr. Burch describes himself as one of America’s top health experts and has written books including ’20 Things You May Not Know About A Vagina’.
Dr Dre loses trademark dispute
