The sports retail giant claims that the Sun Day Red logo created by Woods closely resembles Puma’s signature emblem.
Puma is going after Tiger Woods for what the legendary sports brand believes is a similarity between their two logos.
Puma, with its iconic logo unchanged for 56 years, filed a notice of opposition against Woods’s brand on Jan. 2, Sports Illustrated reports. The sports retail giant claims that the Sun Day Red logo created by Woods closely resembles Puma’s signature emblem.
This move puts a stop to Sun Day Red’s efforts to trademark its logo of a leaping tiger, composed of 15 lines to symbolize Woods’s 15 major championship victories. Its red color comes from the red Woods always wears on Sundays.
“Due to the confusing similarity of the marks and the identical, legally identical, or closely related nature of the goods and services of the parties, consumer confusion is likely between the Challenged Marks and the Leaping Cat logo,” the filing says.
Woods continues to face legal challenges over his brand’s logo. Puma’s lawsuit comes after Tigeraire, a personal air product company, filed a notice of opposition three months ago, and is also currently in litigation in federal court.
However, industry insiders believe Sun Day Red has a “significant” ahead before trademarking its logo.
“This is a real fight,” said Josh Gerben, a trademark attorney at Gerben IP. “Any time you have open litigation you can lose. I think Puma has a legitimate case.”
“Tiger certainly has a target on his back,” he said. “He’s big enough to move markets.”
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Source: Black Enterprise
