Hip-Hop Trademark Dispute Resolved Print
Written by Keith ID2216   
Tuesday, 20 December 2005 00:06

Atlantic hip-hop recording rap artist "Twista" and Southside Chicago musician Faheem Shabazz (BigFa) trademark dispute has been resolved. The dispute was over who has the use of the "Chi-Rock" name.

In a letter from rapper Twista's New York attorney, David Gold, the rap artist agreed to abandon any claims to the Chi-Rock name.

Chi-Roc is a shortened form of Chicago Rocks Shabazz uses on his two websites, www.bigfa.com and www.officialchi-rocknation.com

In his Dec, 7 letter, Gold wrote, "Please be advised that our client has not released any products under the ''Chi-Roc'' mark, Chi-Roc Entertainment has already been dissolved and the registration of the URL ''Chi-Roc.com'' has expired. We are in the process of abandoning the trademark application."

"I hope the world can see the truth now that we''ve won the battle," Faheem said, describing himself as "a happy man".

"He can''t use the term "Chi-Rock" ever again without being sued. There were a lot of angry Chi-Rock members that are now ready to celebrate our victory. I wasn''t after his money or fame even though I was bashed by his supporters in the streets, in news articles and on the internet as being a liar and an opportunist," says Faheem, who is also president of the Chi-Rock Nation.

Faheem claimed victory in a war that was for him an uphill battle: "I found out that it's hard to win against a "star" because the media most often sways their way."

He said many Chicago area radio stations sided with Twista.

In a statement, Faheem thanked those stations and news affiliates who endorsed him: "Chi-Rock Records would like to thank WGCI, Power 92.3, WKKC, WNUR, WHPK, B96, The ''Red Eye'' Newspaper, Sun-Times, BET.com, ThugLifeArmy.com, The Chicagoist and various other media groups for giving a voice To The voiceless."

Faheem is taking his lessons learned to the recording studio. He says he plans to issue a CD "aimed at the fake gangstas in the rap industry featuring Chicago's upcoming rap star, "H20" [the water]"

A federal trademark application with the United States Patent and Trademark Office was filed by Faheem under United States Trademark Serial Application No. 78/751,401 for the mark CHI-ROCK.

For more information about Chi-Rock and Faheem, check out the website www.bigfa.com  .