Drake released his latest single, the possibly-Kanye-West-dissing “Laugh Now Cry Later,” today. Alongside that news, Drake also revealed that his new album will be titled Certified Lover Boy. It turns out that name has been a little problematic for Drake behind the scenes, though, as he was apparently unable to trademark it.
Complex reports that Robert Kleinman is an attorney with some apparent connections to Drake; His law firm is named Common Sense Counsel, and a company called Common Sense Counsel IP Holdings owns a number of Drake-related trademarks, like Frozen Moments (the name of Drake’s company) and even the name “Drake.” In February, he filed a trademark for “Certified Lover Boy,” and the application named three possible uses for the phrase: music recordings; clothing; and television, movies, and live events.
However, the application was denied in April, as the US Patent And Trademark Office refused the application due to “likelihood of confusion.” One of the entities with which they suspected Drake’s desired trademark could be confused with was Michigan clothing company Lover’s Lane, and the other was Loverboy, the Canadian rockers behind the ’80s hit “Working For The Weekend.”
So, Kleinman and Drake now have the option of trying to file a revised application six months out from the application refusal (so October). They could also reach out to Lover’s Lane and/or Loverboy and try to come to a “consent agreement,” where the brand/band basically says they’re fine with Drake trademarking his album’s title. Whatever the case, none of this will prevent Drake from using the album title, it just won’t be granted some legal protections.
Drake doesn’t appear to see this as too big of a roadblock, as he’s apparently known about the application rejection since April and decided to press on calling his album Certified Lover Boy anyway.