Kanye’s Yeezy and Walmart Are in a Dispute Over Similar Brand Logos
Written by SOURCE on April 27, 2021
Yeezy may have jumped over Jumpman, but will it leap over Walmart?
Walmart is arguing that a 2020 trademark application filed by Kanye West’s Yeezy brand includes a logo that’s similar to that of Walmart’s, which is likely to cause confusion, according to the Fashion Law.
The retail chain reportedly filed a notice of opposition with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office in response to the logo. The design, which the trademark application describes 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,” was reportedly intended to be used by Yeezy in clothing and retail stores, music recordings and streaming, hotels, and the creation of “non-metal modular homes.”
The noticed of opposition was reportedly filed on April 21, and argues that Walmart “will be damaged by registration of [Yeezy LLC’s] mark,” which it feels is similar to the logo that the company has been using since 2007. Walmart claims the logo “has become well known and famous as a distinctive indicator of the origin of [its] goods and services and a symbol of [its] goodwill,” and says it has used the logo in the goods and services that Yeezy intends to.
Those services include “musical source recording that are highly related and directly overlapping with the Class 9 goods identified in [Yeezy LLC’s] application,” as well as clothing sales and retail services, according to the notice. But Walmart does not claim to be in the business of “non-metal modular homes” or hotels at the moment.
