Kawhi Leonard says Nike has stolen control of its original logo

Kawhi Leonard sued Nike, the clothing company with which he recently ended an endorsement contract, over the control of the "Klaw" logo used to identify his branded products. Kawhi claims that he provided the logo to Nike and that his claim for ownership is based on a sneaky attempt to go to the US Copyright Office and claim "paternity" and "rights and permissions" in the United States. his back.

The complaint states that the "Klaw" logo marketed by Nike when Kawhi was under contract was the product of Kawhi's imagination. It was perfected by Kawhi, most of the time without the participation of Nike, even before it was signed with the brand. You should not be surprised to learn that the process of creating his personal logo by Kawhi was dedicated and very, very serious because it is a perfectly calibrated machine for maximum success:

According to the complaint, Kawhi, who signed with Nike in 2012, "largely rejected" Nike's proposals to change the logo he had created prior to their trade agreement, but accepted in June 2014 the 39; one of the modified summaries of his design and granted Nike permission to slap the logo on the Kawhi merch, "for the duration of the Nike agreement". This situation has apparently worked well for everyone, and everyone has understood its terms, until late 2015 or early 2017, when the complaint says that Nike went behind Kawhi's back to take control of his creation.

According to the complaint, before Nike took control of the logo, they understood and respected Kawhi's ownership of the logo, which would have even refused to act when third parties were using it "without authorization" . But the silent registration of the logo by Nike in 2017 Kawhi eventually attracted Kawhi's attention at the end of 2018, after Kawhi had left Nike to sign with New Balance in November. Apparently, Nike's executive John Matterazzo sent Kawhi's letter the following month to Kawhi's authorities, claiming that Nike owned the logo and demanded that it not be used on products other than Nike.

You will recall that this is the logo that the Los Angeles Clippers would have considered buying from Nike as part of their presumed attendance of Leonard this summer. The organization was apparently interested in transferring the Nike logo to Kawhi, a prerequisite for Kawhi to pass into the hands of the Clippers. Marc Stein then stated that Nike, meanwhile, "is determined to reject all approaches and to retain its rights on this logo as long as it can."

Kawhi wants and feels legitimately entitled to something that he says he has created from his imagination and with which he identifies himself personally; Nike is reluctant to give a competitor the well-known and proven logo on the market of one of the fastest athletes in American professional sports. The lawsuit blames Nike for defrauding the Copyright Office and claims that Nike has no rights to the logo. You can read it all below.