Roc Nation. Have you ever heard of them? If not, that's Jay-Z's mega entertainment company responsible for the outlet of Willow Smith J. Cole and himself, and the management of Rihanna, Wale, and probably one day soon, his wife, Beyonce.
Anyway, the imprint has been tagged with a trademark infringement lawsuit, over the diamond shaped logo the brand uses. Seems like Jay can't flea the lawsuit traffic he's been getting lately. In addition to the trademark infringement, the suit also bring false designation of origin, trademark dilution, unfair competition and a few other charges. Volcom. Ever heard of them? I'll wait... ... ... Me neither.
They're is a lifestyle brand that manufactures urban apparel, denim and other clothing accessories. They also claim to own the exclusive trademark rights for the logo design. The company filed the lawsuit against Roc Nation in the Central District of California on Tuesday, March 29th. According to the complaint, Roc Nation's logo is too close to their own, which they have been using in trade since 1991. In addition, Volcom claims the logo could create confusion in the marketplace, since their imprint, Volcom Entertainment, also uses a similar, registered trademark.
"While Roc Nation appears to have initially used the diamond only in combination with the words 'Roc Nation' it is now using the diamond logo on its own, causing a likelihood of confusion among consumers," Volcom's complaint states. Volcom's complaint says they notified Roc Nation that the logo infringed on their trademark rights, but the company ignored the requests to stop using it.
Volcom seeks an injunction against Roc Nation from using the logo and is seeking to have all product bearing similar trademarks to be destroyed. Apparently the lawsuit claims Volcom has invested over $100,000,000 in marketing their logo. That's a lot of guap, and quite frankly, this long shot is worth it. #BigUps AllHipHop.com for the leak.
SCREAM @ ME!!!
