(AllHipHop News) Jay Z is not even an owner of the Brooklyn Nets franchise anymore, but the rapper-turned-mogul is still one of the defendants in $600 million trademark lawsuit. Radar Online is reporting that a businessman named Dr. Francois de Cassagnol is suing Jay, the Nets, the NBA, and developer Bruce Ratner for unlawfully trademarking the name “Brooklyn Nets.”
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De Cassagnol claims that he trademarked the name over a decade ago in Louisiana, and the defendants “fraudulently conspired” to manipulate the U.S. Patent Office. He also alleges that he contacted Nets and NBA officials before the team moved from Jersey and was told the franchise would most likely use the name “New York Nets.”
The NBA won a previous appeal to the Patent Office. A review board ruled that de Cassagnol’s paperwork was filed after the announcement that the Nets were moving to Brooklyn and that none of the uses of his Louisiana businesses conflicted with the NBA’s federal trademark application. De Cassagnol went on to file his current multimillion dollar complaint in New York on December 9th of last year.
Besides being named in a $600 million lawsuit, Jay is tied to another potential case as well. According to Uproxx.com, the Magna Carta Holy Grail creator had his lawyers contact Bohemia Interactive, the makers of the game DayZ, about changing the name of their zombie multiplayer to ZDay or possibly face being sued.
“We declined. But it did make me laugh,” shared DayZ developer Dean Hall during a Reddit AMA.
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