RZA, de facto leader of the Wu-Tang Clan, has filed a trademark opposition lawsuit against a Brooklyn dog walking company. Why? They were registering the trademark, “Woof-Tang Clan.”
We promise you, you haven’t mistakenly found your way to “The Onion.” Legendary hip-hop artist RZA, leader of the Wu-Tang Clan, filed a lawsuit on earlier this month, against a Brooklyn Dog Walking business.
RZA’s trademark opposition lawsuit, filed on November 15, claims the Wu-Tang Clan trademark is “unmistakably associated with [RZA] such that it constitutes part of his identity.” So, what does that have to do with walking dogs in Brooklyn? The Dog walking company in question filed a trademark application. It’s called “Woof-Tang Clan.”
Woof-Tang Clan’s owner, Marty Cuatchon, filed a trademark application for “Woof-Tang Clan” on June 8th and for a short time even sold t-shirts with doggie-parodies of the band’s imagery on their site.
The shirts have since been removed from their site. One was a take on Wu-Tang rapper Ol’ Dirty Bastard’s debut solo album, Return to the 36 Chambers (1995). The original cover featured a snapshot of Ol’ Dirty Bastard’s ID card for food stamps. The photoshopped image of the shirt features a dog named Bali in the rappers place…. Ol’ Dirty Bali… get it? Another shirt doggie-parodies the cover of De La Soul’s 3 Feet High and Rising.
If like us, you have the desperate need to own an Ol’ Dirty Bali t-shirt, you’re out of luck, try as we might we can’t find them online anywhere. Sorry, SecretNYCers.
H/T NY Daily News
Featured image source [Wikimedia Commons]