'Yoga Man' Sues 'Jigga Man'

This story is a few weeks old, but I thought that I'd pass it along anyways.

Wrestler and outspoken yoga enthusiast Diamond Dallas Page, the self-proclaimed 'Master of the Diamond Cutter', has filed a lawsuit against rap music artist Jay-Z (known to many as the 'Jigga Man' among other names) alleging trademark infringment. The lawsuit stems from Jay-Z's repeated use of a hand gesture that is reportedly trademarked by Page. The gesture consists of holding both hands up into the air and forming a diamond shape with the thumbs and forefingers (seen in the above images).Page maintains that he has been barraged by fans inquiring about Jay-Z's use of the symbol and whether Jay-Z has Page's permission to use the symbol in addition to whether it is Jay-Z who in fact owns the symbol and has given Page the permission to use it. Coincidently, Page filed the lawsuit at around the same time he is releasing a Yoga book entitled 'Yoga for Regular Guys'. While I tend to believe that Page may have a legitimate case against Jay-Z, I am not entirely convinced that his use of the gesture was malicious and meant to capitalize on Page's popularity. I also think that the timing of this case reeks of the desire for free publicity as Jay-Z is known to have been using the symbol for some time now.

See Also: http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1517546/20051206/story.jhtml

Update: Diamond Dallas Page appeared on the December 20th edition of the Abrams Report on MSNBC. 80-90% of what he said was over-the-top self-promotion. He kept talking about how he came from nothing and built his name and his hand gesture to a globally recognized symbol. He also mentioned how the diamond cutter symbol will be incorporated into his yoga merchandise such as mats and heart monitors. Jay-Z's lawyer also appeared on the program and mentioned how there are records of people using a similar hend gesture as far back as the early 1900's and therefore Page doesn't own the rights to the symbol. She also maintained that her client has as much right as anyone to use the symbol.

wrestleblogger@yahoo.com