Jay Z has big love for the ’hood — but his clothing line has too much “Hood Love,” a Manhattan federal court lawsuit claims.
A for-profit company that claims its mission is improving “poverty-stricken communities” across the globe slapped Jay Z’s hip clothing line, Rocawear, with a lawsuit yesterday for emblazoning T-shirts with the phrase “Hood Love.”
The Essex County, NJ-based HoodLove LLC claims in the trademark-infringement suit that it has owned the rights to the phrase for years — and that Rocawear is profiting off of its good name.
The “unauthorized use of the Infringing Apparel is likely to cause confusion” and “deceive customers” into “mistakenly” believing Rocawear’s and Hoodlove’s goods are “affiliated,” the suit says.
HoodLove is suing for all profits from the shirts and their immediate removal from store shelves.
Reps for HoodLove and Rocawear didn’t immediately return calls for comment.