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Jay-Z's Rocawear added to lawsuit
A federal judge granted a motion to add Rocawear owners Roc Apparel Group LLC, Urban Menswear LLC and Rocawear Licensing LLC to a trademark and copyright infringement suit filed by professional wrestler Diamond Dallas Page against Jay-Z. The suit, originally filed Dec. 2, 2005, claims the hip-hop heavyweight has illegally adopted Page's trademark hand gesture -- the "Diamond Cutter" -- as his own. The lawsuit, filed in Los Angeles Federal Court, accuses Jay and Roc-A-Fella Records of trademark and copyright infringement as well as misappropriation of the hand symbol. Page is seeking an injunction prohibiting Jay from using the gesture and unspecified monetary damages. Earlier this year, Diamond Dallas Page discovered that Jay Z's clothing line, Rocawear, manufactured and sold merchandise displaying the diamond cutter symbol, which prompted the request that the clothing line be included in the lawsuit. Page started using the hand sign to promote his persona on television while working for World Championship Wrestling in 1996. As his popularity increased, so did the recognition of the sign as his trademark, by fans, athletes and celebrities.
"Many athletes and celebrities also flashed the Diamond Cutter sports celebration move," the infringement claim states. "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 [Page's] hand sign. Similarly, former professional football player and Dallas Cowboys 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 will next appear in "Gallow Walker" with Wesley Snipes, which was shot in South Africa.
-- The 411 Online
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