S. Samuel
Red Sox baseball star David Ortiz agreed to settle the $5 million 40/40 Club trademark infringement case that Jay-Z brought against him.
According to reports, Ortiz is willing to re-name his Forty Forty club in the Dominican Republic and cease its promotion.
After a judge threatened him with a default judgment, Red Sox slugger David Ortiz yesterday sent a lawyer to answer Jay-Z’s $5 million-plus trademark-infringement suit, which claims the player ripped off the name of the rap mogul’s famed 40/40 Club. And lawyer Philip Touitou told the judge that Ortiz wants to settle the suit, offering to stop calling the club he and his sister opened in the Dominican Republic “Forty Forty” and to pull down a Web site promoting the nightclub, fortyforty.net. Yankee fan Jay-Z’s West 25th Street club is named for the milestone of hitting 40 homers and stealing 40 bases. (New York Post)
Reports of the lawsuit landed online last April.
Jay-Z and Juan Perez own 40/40 Clubs in New York City, Atlantic City and Las Vegas and have plans to open further venues in Tokyo and Macau. They have accused Ortiz of trading on the fame, value and goodwill of their name through his club Forty/Forty and its website, www.fortyforty.net, which they say has caused their business “marketplace confusion and damage,” the lawsuit said. (ABC News)
The suit also claimed Ortiz had prior knowledge of Jay’s club before naming his night spots.
“David Ortiz is fully aware of plaintiff’s Manhattan 40/40 Club, since he had been a patron there on several occasions long before he opened his infringing Forty/Forty Club,” said the lawsuit filed in Manhattan federal court. Ortiz had no immediate comment on the lawsuit. (Reuters)
Jay owns multiple 40/40 Club venues throughout the United States.
The 40/40 Club is a chain of All-American sports bars and lounges owned by hip hop mogul Jay-Z and partners Desiree Gonzalez and Juan Pérez. The name is borrowed from the baseball term used to denote the exclusive group of Major League Baseball players who have achieved the rare individual feat of recording 40 home runs and 40 stolen bases in a single season. (Wikipedia)
No further details have been revealed as of now.
Check out some recent Jay-Z footage down below:
