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 In a Wednesday regulatory filing, Iconix said it agreed to sell
some intellectual property assets to Jay-Z's Roc Nation LLC and
membership interests in his Marcy Media Holdings LLC affiliate,
in exchange for $15 million.
Iconix said both sides also agreed to drop all claims against
each other, without admitting wrongdoing or unlawful conduct.
Lawyers for Jay-Z and Roc Nation did not immediately respond to
requests for comment.
Jay-Z, 49, whose legal name is Shawn Carter, is worth $1
billion, a fortune he built through his music, Roc Nation, the
streaming service Tidal, Armand de Brignac champagne, and
investments such as Uber, Forbes magazine said.
The settlement ends an April 2017 lawsuit in the federal court
in Manhattan in which Iconix accused Jay-Z of infringing
trademarks it acquired a decade earlier in a $204 million
purchase of his Rocawear clothing brand.
It also resolves a private arbitration related to that sale, and
a July 2019 lawsuit in a New York state court in Manhattan in
which Jay-Z accused Iconix of fraudulently doing business with
Roc Nation as part of a "colossal accounting scandal."
Iconix has written off almost the entire value of the Rocawear
brand. It said on Tuesday it took a $5.5 million charge after
agreeing in principle to resolve a U.S. Securities and Exchange
Commission probe into its writedowns.
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The arbitration drew additional attention after Jay-Z complained
that too few African-American arbitrators had been eligible to hear
the case. He dropped his objection once enough arbitrators were
found.
Iconix is based in New York, and has dozens of brands including
Candie's, Danskin, Fieldcrest, Joe Boxer, London Fog, Mossimo, Pony
and Starter.
Jay-Z is married to pop star Beyonce, and known for such songs as
"Hard Knock Life," "99 Problems" and "Big Pimpin."
The cases are Iconix Brand Group Inc et al v Roc Nation Apparel
Group LLC et al, U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York,
No. 17-03096; Iconix Brand Group Inc et al v Carter et al, American
Arbitration Association, No. 01-18-0003-6487; and S. Carter
Enterprises LLC et al v Iconix Brand Group Inc et al, New York State
Supreme Court, New York County, No. 653858/2019.
(Reporting by Jonathan Stempel in New York, Editing by Franklin
Paul)
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