Diddy has reportedly been hit with a lawsuit from a prison inmate who accuses the mogul of using the trademark “Act Bad” without permission.
AllHipHop claims to have received court documents filed by Charles Kenyatta Jr aka Charlie Cee, demonstrating that he sued Diddy in New York for trademark infringement and breach of contract. Kenyatta is reportedly requesting $10million in damages for the contract tort.
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However, HipHopDX conducted an extensive court records search, and no legal documentation has been found to be filed with any federal court, as of this writing.
The United States Patent & Trademark Office has confirmed that the wordmark for “Act Bad” has been filed by Kenyatta Jr. as of November 23, 2021. “Act Bad,” as a wordmark, is live and registered, while “Act Bad Entertainment,” which has also been filed for ownership by Kenyatta Jr. as of September 18, 2021, is still pending and awaiting examination by USPTO official.
The wordmark covers clothing goods, including beanies and sweatshirts.
Check out the filing below:
Diddy reportedly hit with $10M lawsuit from prison inmate over "Act Bad" pic.twitter.com/1YfwiugWv8
— HipHopDX (@HipHopDX) January 24, 2024
Kenyatta further claims that the Bad Boy Records founder infringed upon his trademark of “Act Bad” with a range of merchandise released in 2023 to coincide with the release of Diddy’s single of the same name, and that Diddy’s attorneys ignored emails relating to the alleged infringement.
The alleged lawsuit further claims: “Sean Combs made a song called ‘ACT BAD’ and wanted to [sell] Act Bad merchandise, a percentage of the net profits for recorded song and music video, also a percentage of merchandise T-shirts, hats, etc.
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“Charles Kenyatta Jr. did not sign [the] contract because he was incarcerated, and any contract should be [forwarded] to his Power of Attorney to sign on his behalf. Secondly, it was another person’s name on the contract that had to be removed. The percentage was not of Plaintiff’s liking, there was no upfront or advance monetary and it was a bunch of miscellaneous things plaintiff wanted to remove off contract.”
Kenyatta Jr. was incarcerated in federal prison at the time the alleged contract took place, due to his role in drug trafficking offenses operating inside NYCHA (New York City Housing Authority) projects. In 2017, he was sentenced to 60 months for his role in the offenses, but he has since been released.
Kenyatta Jr. took to his Instagram on Wednesday (January 24) to address the matter directly.
“For months I sat back quiet,” he wrote. “I loss friendships, brotherhood. All over a brand I created. I had a vision bigger than jail and some hood s**t. I did what most dudes in the hood, don’t know how to do or forget to do.”
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He continued: “I trademark and LLC my product. A bunch of backdoor s**t took place, due to my circumstances of me being incarcerated. So now I’m coming for everything!!! That’s owed to me!!! #mractbad #actbadent #actbadapparel #actbad #actbadder #kenyattafoundation #kashmoney.”
HipHopDX has reached out to reps for Diddy for comment as well as Charles Kenyatta Jr. directly. As of press time neither has responded.
