 Despite having his trademark infringement case against rapper Rick Ross dismissed in late July, former drug kingpin "Freeway" Ricky Ross is appealing the decision.
After being released from prison in May 2009, the legendary drug dealer went after rapper Rick Ross over the rights to his name, which he claimed was used without his permission in order to build the Miami rapper's street credibility with the hip-hop genre, in addition to profiting from it.
He filed a lawsuit against Ross, and his record labels, in order to gain back control over his namesake and to stop the usage by the rapper, as well as halt the release of his latest album, Teflon Don.
Back in July, the case was dismissed because Freeway Rick was unable to show evidence or reasonable proof that he actually owned the trademark rights to his nickname.
A judge ruled that Freeway Ricky's moniker didn't have "secondary meaning" and/or value in commerce from drug dealing.
"Because this illegal activity cannot be used to establish secondary meaning, such allegations do not provide support for Plaintiff having a valid trademark for his name," the court said.
The original lawsuit was for damages in excess of $10 million.
At press time, rapper Rick Ross had not commented on the lawsuit.
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