Jaime Rogozinski created Reddit's popular WallStreetBets. Now he's suing over "nightmare" ban.

The founder of the popular Reddit forum WallStreetBets is suing the social media company, alleging he was unfairly banned from the service and blocked in his efforts to gain a trademark.

Jaime Rogozinski is asking that a court grant him ownership of the WallStreetBets trademark, according to a lawsuit filed February 15 in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California. He also is asking that Reddit be barred from using the WallStreetBets brand unless he is reinstated to the forum.

Rogozinski's saga, as portrayed by the the lawsuit, paints the picture of a scrappy individual investor who sought to help others tap Wall Street advice following the Great Recession, only to be jilted by a large tech company. After WallStreetBets grew into a forum with more than 1 million subscribers, Rogozinski learned his account was suspended in April 2020 — shortly after he had filed an application to register WallStreetBets as a trademark, the lawsuit claims.