Dispute on Copyright between Kawhi Leonard and Nike
Kawhi Leonard nicknamed King of the North, the star player of the NBA team Toronto Raptors, launched a legal struggle against Nike for alleged infringement of intellectual property rights.
Dispute on Copyright between Kawhi Leonard and Nike
Kawhi Leonard nicknamed King of the North, the star player of the NBA team Toronto Raptors, launched a legal struggle against Nike for alleged infringement of intellectual property rights.
According to his allegations, the personalized logo used during Kawhi Leonard's sponsorship agreement with Nike in 2011 included the logo he created during his college years. Leonard had rejected 'a major part' of the changes that Nike wanted to make to the logo. Leonard never transferred his rights in respect of the logo to Nike, nor did he subject any trademark registration applications until November 2017. When Leonard's deal with Nike ended and he embarked on a new commercial adventure with New Balance, Nike sent him a written warning and warned him to stop using the logo. After learning in the aforementioned written warning that his big hands, the initial letter of his name and his logo, which he created based on his jersey number, was registered at the U.S. Copyright Office in May 2017 on behalf of Nike, Leonard filed a suit against Nike on June 3, 2019. Leonard requested to be determined that he was the sole owner of the logo, that the firm's copyright application was malicious and that his use of the logo did not violate the company's rights. On the other hand, Nike filed a counter-lawsuit with the requests of imposition of cautionary judgement to Leonard's use of the logo, the acceptance of the right ownership of the company on the logo, and the decision to compensate Leonard for the damages caused by the breach of the contract, including the attorney fees.
Source/Credit: EPSN
According to his allegations, the personalized logo used during Kawhi Leonard's sponsorship agreement with Nike in 2011 included the logo he created during his college years. Leonard had rejected 'a major part' of the changes that Nike wanted to make to the logo. Leonard never transferred his rights in respect of the logo to Nike, nor did he subject any trademark registration applications until November 2017. When Leonard's deal with Nike ended and he embarked on a new commercial adventure with New Balance, Nike sent him a written warning and warned him to stop using the logo. After learning in the aforementioned written warning that his big hands, the initial letter of his name and his logo, which he created based on his jersey number, was registered at the U.S. Copyright Office in May 2017 on behalf of Nike, Leonard filed a suit against Nike on June 3, 2019. Leonard requested to be determined that he was the sole owner of the logo, that the firm's copyright application was malicious and that his use of the logo did not violate the company's rights. On the other hand, Nike filed a counter-lawsuit with the requests of imposition of cautionary judgement to Leonard's use of the logo, the acceptance of the right ownership of the company on the logo, and the decision to compensate Leonard for the damages caused by the breach of the contract, including the attorney fees.
Source/Credit: EPSN