Sean “Diddy” Combs’ has filed a $60 million lawsuit against Global Brands Group, the majority owner of his clothing brand, Sean John, over his “Vote or Die” slogan, according to Page Six.
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The lawsuit which was filed on February 11 in the Southern District of New York, alleges GBG, which holds the majority stake of Sean John, allegedly misappropriated the trademark “Vote or Die.”
The suit against GBG Sean John LLC, first reported by AllHipHop, alleges that the mark is owned by Citizen Change, a nonprofit headed by Diddy that was founded in 2004. At the time, Diddy registered the trademark for the slogan “Vote Or Die” for his nationwide voter participation campaign.
In December of 2016, the “Vote Or Die” mark was administratively cancelled over the failure to file renewal documents, Page Six confirmed, but Diddy continued to use the trademarked slogan in merchandise all the way up until the 2020 presidential election. Diddy’s lawsuit claims GBG is trying to capitalize on the clerical error.
In 2019, GBG Sean Jean applied for the trademark, according to online records, and began selling merchandise with the slogan emblazoned on it, allegedly to make consumers believe the rapper, who owns only a minority share of the fashion brand, was still involved with it.
Diddy is suing Sean John for at least $60 million in damages for breach of contract, unfair competition, common law trademark infringement, deceptive practices, and unjust enrichment.
This is Diddy’s second lawsuit against GBG in a week. On Feb. 4, Diddy filed a $25 million lawsuit against the company for allegedly using his image likeness and person without permission to promote a clothing line for women called Missguided.
Diddy sold his majority stake in Sean John to Global Brands Group in 2016 with the goal to continue the brand success and ensure global reach, but a source confirmed that the idea floundered.
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In fact, our source said the brand is no longer a powerhouse and has become diluted and lost the relevance it once had. Diddy won a CFDA Award for Men’s Designer of the Year for the brand in 2004.
