Understanding the ‘Netaverse' in Relation to the Brooklyn Nets

Phinge wants to take the Nets to court, but not to play ball.

Dec 3, 2013; Brooklyn, NY, USA; A view of the Brooklyn Nets logo at center court before the game against the Denver Nuggets at Barclays Center. Mandatory Credit: Joe Camporeale-Imagn Images / Joe Camporeale-Imagn Images

Software company Phinge is suing the Brooklyn Nets for trademark infringement to prevent the organization from using the term Netaverse. 

Alongside the Brooklyn Nets, other defendants named include the YES Network, Canon, the NBA and Brooklyn Sports and Entertainment (the Nets' parent company). The suit was filed in the Central District of California. Phinge is based in Delaware. 

The lawsuit alleges that Phinge “has been in the business of hardware and software technology for over ten years” and, since December 2021, offered a platform named Netverse. It adds that, since January 2022, Phinge has been readying a virtual reality version of the same platform under the name Netaverse.

The complaint adds that Phinge owns 21 domains using the term Netverse and 35 domains using Netaverse. The company first filed a trademark application for the former name on September 25, 2019, which was eventually registered as a trademark on October 10, 2023.

However, it was on Jan. 18, 2022 that both Phinge and the Brooklyn Nets filed a trademark application for the name Netaverse. The Nets — alongside the YES Network, Canon and NBA — then launched the “Netaverse” experience, which effectively uses more than 100 cameras to allow fans to view games as if they were watching from the court. Brooklyn’s “Netaverse” debuted on Jan. 15, 2022. 

Welcome to the Netaverse! @Grady details a historic debut. #netaverse pic.twitter.com/dmrtn09xd6

— YES Network (@YESNetwork) January 16, 2022

11 days later, Phinge sent a letter to the NBA regarding the Nets’ use of the term. The suit also claims there was a back-and-forth between Phinge and the Nets, but that the organization continues to use the Netaverse name in a way that is “substantially indistinguishable” from Phinge’s Netverse and identical to Phinge’s Netaverse.

Phinge adds that the Nets’ use of the “Netaverse” has damaged their own company’s reputation due to how Brooklyn’s version has “been negatively received by the consuming public.” The software company is essentially asking the legal system to bar the Nets from using “Netaverse” and to compensate Phinge for monetary damages to be proven at trial.

This lawsuit was initially filed on Sep.16. Phinge is being represented by T-Rex Law and its attorneys Rex Brabson and David Stewart.

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