Kanye West, Walmart In Legal Dispute Over Logo Trademark Application
By Jason Hall
April 29, 2021
Kanye West has found himself in a legal battle with the world's biggest grocery chain.
Walmart is arguing that a 2020 trademark filed by West's Yeezy brand includes a logo very similar to its own, filing a notice of opposition with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office and arguing the similar logos are likely to cause confusion, the Fashion Law reports.
A notice of opposition recently filed by Walmart describes the logo in question as "eight dotted lines, each comprising three totally shaded circles, with a total of 24 circles, arranged at equal angles as rays from a sun," and claims West aimed to use it for Yeezy clothing, as well as retail stores, music, hotels and "non-metal modular homes."
Walmart opposes Yeezy logo #trademark application:https://t.co/adSzAgvtbc pic.twitter.com/ATfNXz5mGg
— Erik PeltonĀ® (@tm4smallbiz) April 22, 2021
The notice of opposition, which is listed as having been filed on April 21, 2020 by Walmart Apollo, LLC and lists Yeezy LLC as the defendant, argues that the company āwill be damaged by registration of [Yeezy LLCās] mark" and claims West's logo is too similar to the one Walmart has used since 2007.
Walmart also said its logo āhas become well known and famous as a distinctive indicator of the origin of [its] goods and services and a symbol of [its] goodwill" and notes that it has already used the logo in some of the goods and services that West intended to including āmusical source recording that are highly related and directly overlapping with the Class 9 goods identified in [Yeezy LLCās] application," as well as retail services, according to the notice of opposition.
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