Dr. Dre Loses Fight With Dr. Drai, an Actual Doctor

In trademark battle, gynecologist argued that no one was likely to confuse the two
By Janet Cromley,  Newser Staff
Posted May 9, 2018 3:33 PM CDT
Dr. Dre Loses Trademark Fight With OB/GYN
Dr. Dre performs at Madison Square Garden on Thursday, Feb 12, 2015, in New York.   (Photo by Scott Roth/Invision/AP)

In a case of Dre versus Drai, the US Patent and Trademark office has handed a win to ... Drai, thus ending a three-year dispute that pitted Dr. Dre (real name Andre Young) against Dr. Drai (real name Draion M. Burch). One, of course, is the rap mogul who discovered Snoop Dogg. The other is a Pennsylvania gynecologist and media personality who appears on webinars like "What Your Mama Didn’t Tell You About Making Babies." The trouble started when Dr. Drai, whose speaking fees run about $5,000, according to the BBC, sought to trademark "Dr. Drai" and "Doctor Drai OBGYN and Media Personality." Dr. Dre objected and argued that his own name is similar and appears on the same type of media, such as MP3 files and "other types of public performance," reports the Washington Post.

Dr. Drai shot back that he wasn't interested in trading on Dr. Dre's name and that people were unlikely to confuse the two as Dr. Dre is not an actual doctor, "nor is he qualified to provide any type of medical services. ... When I became a physician and I graduated from medical school, I became Dr. Drai, obviously because I’m actually a physician." Dr. Drai also took issue with the rapper’s lyrics, which he said contain "misogyny and homophobic things," per the Post. The case was dismissed last week, but it sounds like Dr. Drai won't be celebrating his victory by dancing to Dr. Dre's music. "Being an OB-GYN, I cannot be associated with anyone that has any kind of misogynistic speech because it’s a bad reflection on me as a doctor," he said. (More Dr. Dre stories.)

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