Anyone who ever used a diamond wants in on that Roc money. We wouldn’t be surprised if Liz Taylor sues Hovi Hov posthumously
Another day another lawsuit and this time it was dropped on Jay-Z. The hip hop mogul’s music publishing company, Roc Nation, was sued for trademark infringement by Volcom. The Costa Mesa California based clothing company has alleged in district court that Roc Nation’s diamond-shaped logo resembles the logo used by Volcom since 1991.
The complaint stated that Volcom has spent more than $100,000,000 on marketing their logo. Roc Nation, on the other hand, began to use its logo in 2009 on headphones, records and other consumer products, and they’ve ignored requests to cease and desist. Volcom’s complaint stated that this creates confusion:
“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”
Just as Roc Nation is currently a recording company, Volcom is also heavily involved with promoting live and recorded music. Volcom claims that their merchandise is often sold from similar retailers, thus the logo confusion.
This copyright infringement issue regarding the ‘diamond’ logo apparently is not the first for Jay-Z. In 2005, the rapper was sued by wrestler Diamond Dallas Page for throwing a diamond ‘hand sign’ to represent the Roc-A-Fella “Dynasty”, because it’s said to be too similar to Page’s “Diamond Cutter” hand signal. In 2007, Jay-Z agreed to pay the wrestler, although the amount is not released to public.
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