Jay Z, the NBA, and developer Bruce Ratner are being sued for $600M over the Brooklyn Nets name.
The Plaintiff, Dr. Francois de Cassagnol, filed suit on December 9, 2013. According to court documents obtained by Radar Online, de Cassagnol claims that the NBA, Jay Z, and developer Bruce Ratner ”fraudulently conspired” to use “loopholes” in the U.S. Patent Office so that they could use a term he says he registered more than ten years ago.
de Cassagnol even claims that before the team moved to Brooklyn, he spoke with officials at the New Jersey Nets organization and the NBA who assured him that the team would not use the term “Brooklyn Nets,” but would most likely opt for “New York Nets.”
A previous appeal to the Patent Office found in favor of the NBA. The review board determined de Cassagnol had filed his paperwork long after reports emerged about the team moving to Brooklyn, and that “none of the described uses” of his Brooklyn Nets businesses were significant enough to overrule the NBA’s federal trademark application.
Hov sold his shares of the team to Jason Kidd late last year after opening his own sports agency firm. He still owns a percentage of the Nets’ home, Barclays Center.
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