Jay-Z despises copycats — which is precisely why the “Big Pimpin’” star has slapped Boston Red Sox first baseman David Ortiz with a $5 million lawsuit for swagger-jacking his club name. You see Ortiz named his new club in the Dominican Republic Forty-Forty — which kinda sounds exactly like Jay’s 40/40 chain here in the States.
The suit — filed by Jay and his business partner Juan Perez in Manhattan federal court on Thursday — accused Ortiz and his sister, Albania Ortiz, of trademark infringement, unjust enrichment, and “false designation of sponsorship” in connection with the Forty Forty nightclub they opened in their Caribbean native last year.
The suit also charges The Ortiz Family with “cybersquatting,” for running a Spanish-language website at www.fortyforty.net.
Jay-Z and Perez own 40/40 Clubs in New York City, Atlantic City, and Las Vegas, with plans to open further venues in Tokyo and Macau. They claim Ortiz is trying to capitalize on the success of their chain by swiping the name they came up with more than seven years ago.
“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,” read the lawsuit filed in Manhattan Federal Court.