It’s looking like Jay Z got 99 problems and Trademark Lawsuit is one?
According to Radar Online, Dr, Francois de Cassagnol is suing Hip-Hop’s favorite enterpreneur, the NBA and Brooklyn Nets minority owner and developer Bruce Ratner for allegedly stealing the “Brooklyn Nets” name idea from him. Even if the Nets are a new franchise according to Dr. Francois who registered the name more than a decade ago. He filed a pro se complaint with the Eastern District of the state of New York on December 9 2013 asking for juried trial over the issue with damages of $600 million.
The documents submitted as evidence show that de Cassagnol filed applications in 2012 for “The Brooklyn Nets Entertainment Logo,” which was first used in the State of Louisiana back in 2003. He even claims that before the team moved to Brooklyn, he spoke with officials at the New Jersey Nets organization and the NBA who assured him that the team would not use the term “Brooklyn Nets,” but would use “New York Nets” instead. He claims, “It was pure mismanagement of the facts.” Shawn Carter is doing quite well for himself between the music, a HBO show in development and his current tour but his estimated net worth is off by $100M. Let’s hope for the best but if the allegations turn out to be true, this is going to be one hell of a settlement.
