On May 10, 2018, rapper and producer Dr. Dre lost his trademark infringement case against Dr. Drai, a board certified OBGYN in Pennsylvania. Dr. Drai uses the shortened version of his name for promotion of his medical expertise. Dr. Drai organizes conferences, writes, publishes scientific books and frequent podcasts.
The American rap star, Andre Young, aka Dr. Dre, was concerned the similarity of the names would create confusion therefore sued the gynecologist for trademark infringement. In a lengthy argumentation, Dr. Drai demonstrated that his work as a gynecologist, could in no way be confused with the artistic work of Dr. Dre.
The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office decided in favor of the physician, seeing no risk of confusion between the two. The intended audience for each party is sufficiently distinct to avoid confusion.
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