Kawhi Leonard has reportedly filed a lawsuit against Nike for a trademark infringement, as the Rapports star accuses Nike of using the logo he designed himself for his personal use without his consent.
Kawhi Leonard who is still fighting to win his Toronto team the NBA championship, is battling to also protect his business off the court, not minding the distraction this could cost his team.
Kawhi Leonard in his court documents, argued that Nike are using a logo he personally created after he was drafted to the NBA in 2011, which was design of his hand to his outfits, and, inside the hand, drew stylized versions of his initials ‘KL’ and the number that he had worn for much of his career, ‘2.’”
He claims that as part of his endorsement deal with Nike several years later, he “allowed Nike to use on certain merchandise the logo he created while Leonard continued to use the logo on non-Nike goods.
But, he claims that unbeknownst to him, “Nike filed an application for copyright registration of his logo and falsely represented in the application that Nike had authored the logo.”
Kawhi Leonard claims that he wants to use the logo for “clothing lines, footwear and on other products and, among other things, in connection with sports camps and charity functions, but Nike explicitly has objected to such uses.”
The NBA star is asking a judge to declare that he is the rightful owner of the logo and to rule that Nike “committed fraud on the Copyright Office in registering the Leonard Logo.”
Accoring to Bleacher report
Leonard’s representatives argue Nike “falsely represented” in its copyright application that the company had created the “Klaw” logo.
Leonard was under the Jordan Brand umbrella for the entirety of his NBA career until the brand declined negotiation continue over a new contract in 2018.
A report in the New York Times last week claimed that the Los Angeles Clippers who are said to be the frontrunners to sign Kawhi when he becomes a free agent after the season attempted to purchase a portion of the rights to Leonard’s signature logo that Nike claims it still owns.