– Blogged by: @_cierra.jones⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
Joining a very prominent list, rapper Armando Christian Pérez, better known as Pitbull, has officially trademarked his famous “EEEEEEEYOOOOOO” sound featured throughout his career in music. The sound trademark is believed to be the first trademarked “call sign” by a music artist, according to Billboard.
Leslie José Zigel, Pitbull’s general counsel, shared her thoughts on the recent trademark:
“There is a very small sliver of trademarks having to do with sound identification marks. Copyright generally applies to music with respect to sound recordings and music publishing. This is different. This is a signature yell.”⠀⠀
According to an article written by Pitbull’s attorney’s, published by NYU Journal of Intellectual Property and Entertainment Law, hearing other artists use similar screams to Pitbull’s “grito” (yell) was part of his reason for wanting the trademark. Artists such as J Balvin and Willy Williams have used a somewhat similar sound in their hit song “Mi Gente.” Many people assumed Pitbull was a part of the song but was not. Pitbull was then expected to release a remix of the song for his audience, but in turn, filed for “EEEEEEEYOOOOOO” to be trademarked.⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
Also, in that article, Pitbull and his legal team described the development of his famous yell and what has caused it to stand out over the years, seemingly qualifying it for multiple trademark registrations. But, getting the trademark wasn’t easy for him and his team, as they had to convince the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office how well-connected the yell was to Pitbull and his brand.
It wasn’t until Oct 8, 2019, did the USPTO officially give Pitbull both trademark registrations.
“He is joining an extremely exclusive club with relation to this, and that’s because his yell is so predominant and so recognizable that we got a trademark on it,” Zigel said. “It’s another piece of intellectual property [that] he owns,” she later added.
As of now, anyone who uses Pitbull’s signature “EEEEEEEYOOOOOO” without the proper license, could be held liable for infringement.
