USA's Tiger Woods lines up a putt on day two of the Open at Royal Troon, South Ayrshire, Scotland. Photo date: Friday July 19, 2024.
Jane Barlow | PA Images | fake images
A logo dispute between Tiger Woods' clothing company, Sun Day Red, and Tigeraire, a company that makes cooling products for athletes, is now in the hands of the federal court system.
Last week, Tigeraire filed a notice of opposition with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office against Sun Day Red's Tiger logo, saying the golf legend's company “illegally hijacked” the Tigeraire design on its own brand.
In a subsequent court filing, Woods' legal team sued Tigeraire, accusing the company of trying to cash in on Sun Day Red's status as a larger brand. Sun Day Red has filed a motion to dismiss the patent claim.
“This case, unfortunately, presents the time-worn circumstance of an opportunistic and misguided company attempting to extract unjustified financial gain from a larger, more successful brand, based on threats of legal action and demands for exorbitant sums,” the lawsuit says. .
Applicant's Trademarks and Registered Trademark.
US Patent and Trademark Office
According to the lawsuit, filed last week in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California, Sun Day Red says it has attempted in good faith to resolve the infringement claims through negotiations and that Tigeraire has sent “monetary demands scandalous” to Sun. Day Red, owned by TaylorMade.
The lawsuit also says Tigeraire recently began attending golf tournaments and changed the home page of its website to prominently feature golfers in an attempt to demonstrate market overlap.
A representative for Woods and TaylorMade declined to comment on the matter.
Tigeraire says its logo and name pay homage to the company's collaboration with Louisiana State University. The company, founded in Baton Rouge, partnered with the university's football team in 2020 to help provide cooling relief to its players.
In a statement issued Tuesday, more than a week after Sun Day Red's lawsuit was filed, Tigeraire said the trademark and logo are personal.
“For a foreign private equity firm to sue us for enforcing this right and then claim that we are just past payday is an insult to every person in our small business who works to provide quality products that improve the lives of our customers,” Tigeraire said. CEO Jack Karavich in the statement.
A detail of hats and a club cover during the launch of Tiger Woods and TaylorMade Golf's new clothing and footwear brand, “Sun Day Red,” at Palisades Village on February 12, 2024 in Pacific Palisades, California.
Kevork Djansezian | Getty Images Sport | fake images
Trademark attorney Josh Gerben called the lawsuit an “aggressive response” to the trademark dispute.
He noted that taking a case in federal court makes the matter very expensive for a smaller company like Tigeraire.
“A lot of times these cases favor the party that has the resources to litigate, and that can make it challenging,” Gerben said.
Sun Day Red was launched in May after Woods ended his 27-year association with Nike.
The brand's name pays homage to the fact that Woods always wears red on Sundays, and the logo is a tribute to the 15 majors he won throughout his career, Woods previously said.
