Freeway Rick's attorney tells All Hip Hop
"If William Roberts attempts to use the ‘Rick Ross’ name that he spent years earning and spending time in prison to uphold, he will be met with an injunction. Simple as that. This is not a publicity stunt, a game or a hoax, to sell some Rick Ross albums, as some have suggested. In fact, [Freeway] Rick Ross intends to halt the release of any Summer 2010 ‘Rick Ross’ album."
Representatives for Freeway Rick Ross maintain that the Rapper Rick Ross applied trade to register and trademark the name Rick Ross, but were refused by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.
In addition to rapper Rick Ross, Slip-N-Slide, Jay-Z, Antonio Reid, Island Def Jam will be named in the lawsuit, unless the parties can reach a settlement.
“Jay-Z had no reason to disrespect Rick Ross and violate his name, because Jay-Z was a hustler, just like Rick Ross and [he] should’ve respected what ‘the boss’ did in the ‘game.’ L.A. Reid knew he should’ve cleared the name before letting Roberts’ art imitate [Freeway] Rick Ross’ life and exploiting his name.”
Sources close to the matter told AllHipHop.com that Freeway Ricky Ross will seek “half” of everything rapper Rick Ross has ever earned.
