Rapper and actor T.I. is on the heart of a trademark battle after a lawsuit filed final month by Cylia Senii, creator of the net sequence Situationships. The case accuses T.I. and his manufacturing firm, Grand Hustle Films, of infringing on Senii’s model through the use of the identical title for his upcoming movie.

According to courtroom paperwork, Senii alleges that T.I.’s mission piggybacks off the popularity and identification of her long-established digital sequence. The go well with, first reported by AllHipHop, claims the rapper’s use of the identify quantities to unfair competitors and civil conspiracy. Senii is asking for monetary damages and a courtroom order blocking the movie from being launched below the Situationships title.

“Defendants are engaging in a common scheme and effort to take advantage of the public’s association of Featherstone’s ‘Situationships’ brand by marketing their own film and entitling it ‘Situationships,’” the criticism reads.

Production stalls as title dispute exams inventive possession

In an early win for Senii, a federal decide this month issued an injunction barring T.I. and Grand Hustle Films from producing or selling any content material below the contested title whereas litigation proceeds. The ruling has stalled manufacturing and introduced added scrutiny to the dispute. T.I.’s authorized staff has pushed again, arguing the time period Situationships is simply too generic to be trademarked. His attorneys declare Senii has didn’t show she owns unique rights to the phrase and argue the case ought to be tried in Georgia, the place many of the concerned events are primarily based—not within the Southern District of New York.

This trademark struggle provides to a string of authorized entanglements for T.I. and his spouse, Tiny Harris. The couple is gearing up for a retrial of their ongoing authorized battle in opposition to MGA Entertainment, the toy big behind the “O.M.G.” dolls. Earlier this yr, the pair had secured a $71 million jury verdict within the case, however the matter stays unresolved.

The final result of Senii’s lawsuit might set a key precedent for a way mental property rights are enforced round titles within the leisure world. And for T.I., who has labored to broaden his model past music, the ruling might reverberate far past this single mission.