Jay-Z and David Ortiz settle lawsuit over use of 40/40 club name

Last year David Ortiz opened a sports club in his native Dominican Republic and decided to name it the Forty-Forty club, which is completely different from Jay-Z's chain of 40/40 clubs in New York, Atlantic City, and Las Vegas.  Well, apparently Jay-Z didn't think so, and he sued Big Papi for infringement on the name.

Jay-Z was suing for $5 million, and a year later they have settled out of court, though terms have not been reached in writing or disclosed.

David Ortiz has had many successful businesses and charitable organizations in the United States and in the Dominican Republic.  Being that he was a patron of Jay-Z's clubs, he can't claim ignorance here.  The Dominican Baseball Guy has to think he got some bad guidance from his "people," as he surely had several advisors working on this project with him.  One would think that someone a lawyer or someone on his staff would mention that this was illegal, but apparently not.

It's too bad, because the Dominican Baseball Guy would have loved to visit Ortiz's club in Santo Domingo.  You also have to wonder what would have happened if Ortiz played for Jay-Z's beloved Yankees.

Ortiz is from Santo Domingo, DR.

Yankee fan Jay-Z, photo by Alex Johnson on Flickr