Trey Songz's catchprase is garnering a bit of legal attention these days. The R&B singer recently went after a reality show star for allegedly stealing his signature "YUUP" expression.
Songz's lawyers served Dave "The Mogul" Hester of Storage Wars with a cease and desist letter claiming that he was using the singer's phrase during the show's auction segments without permission. He was also told to stop using the word on T-shirts and other merchandise. Hester then filed a countersuit against Songz in Manhattan federal court claiming that there was a difference between his and Songz's "YUUPs."
According to The New York Post, the lawsuit states that Songz's phrase is more of an "animal-like or non-human squeal which begins with a distinct ‘yeeee’ sound before finishing with a squeal-like ‘uuuup’ sound" and is "distinct and different from Hester’s more monosyllabic sounding guttural auction bidding phrase which is meant to convey the meaning of 'yes.'"
Hester is seeking unspecified damages and an order to keep Songz from "interfering" with the use of the phrase, which Hester trademarked in September.
