The legal wrestling
match between wrestler Diamond Dallas Page and Jay-Z continues in court, as the
wrestler has added Roc-A-Wear to a trademark and copyright infringement lawsuit.Diamond
Dallas Page filed the original lawsuit in December of 2005 in Los Angeles Federal
Court, claiming that Jay-Z’s popular Roc-A-Fella diamond hand gesture was illegally
adopted from his patented "Diamond Cutter" symbol. Today
(Dec. 11), a federal judge granted a motion to add Rocawear, Roc Apparel Group
LLC, Urban Menswear LLC and Rocawear Licensing LLC to the lawsuit, which seeks
an injunction to prevent Jay-Z from using the symbol, as well as an unspecified
amount of monetary damages. Page
decided to add Rocawear to the existing lawsuit, after he learned Jay-Z recently
used the hand gesture to market and promote the Rocawear clothing line."Many
athletes and celebrities also flashed the Diamond Cutter sports celebration move,"
states the lawsuit, which was filed in Los Angeles Federal Court. "In Game
6 of the 1998 NBA finals against the Chicago Bulls, Karl Malone, the Utah Jazz
star basketball player, flashed the Diamond Cutter Trademark during the game and
referred to the symbol as Plaintiff’s hand sign. Similarly, former professional
football player and Dallas Cowboy star running back, Herschel Walker used the
Diamond Cutter Trademark after a 64 yard touchdown run and also acknowledged that
it was Plaintiff’s signature trademark." Page,
who is shooting the movie Gallow Walker in South Africa with Wesley Snipes,
says that he used the symbol to promote his DDP character while working for World
Championship Wrestling (WCW) as early as 1996.The
wrestler used the hand gesture just before executing his signature finishing move
in the ring, the "Diamond Cutter."Due
to the popularity of the hand gesture, Page used it in other business endeavors
including a pair of inspirational products including the Yoga For Regular Guys
DVD series and book, and an upcoming audio book titled Own Your Life.