Tiger Woods' apparel brand Sun Day Red has "unlawfully hijacked" another company's logo for their tiger emblem, according to a report by CNBC.
Woods' golf apparel and accessory brand has the tiger logo adorning all products, one which Woods himself says pays homage to his 15 Majors wins with the 15 stripes on the tiger logo.
However, the brand, backed by TaylorMade Golf, is facing a trademark dispute after another company filed an opposition notice to the US Patent and Trademark Office.
Tigeraire, a company that supplies fans and cooling products for athletes, also has a tiger as a logo and claims Sun Day Red "unlawfully hijacked" it to use on the products endorsed by the 82-time PGA Tour winner.
Court filings, as reported by CNBC's Jessica Golden, show that the cooling fan company feels Sun Day Red has violated their logo trademark.
“The actions of SDR, TaylorMade and Tiger Woods blatantly ignore Tigeraire’s long-standing protected mark, brand and identity, violate federal and state intellectual property law, and disregard the consumer confusion their actions create. SDR’s application should be denied,” read the court filing as reported on CNBC.
TaylorMade Golf, which has 40 days to respond to the notice, told CNBC that it has "full confidence in the securitization of our trademarks".
Although the dispute means that Tiger's Sun Day Day trademark application has been stopped for now, the case is expected to be settled well before having to go to court.
Tigeraire, a company that makes cooling products for athletes, says Tiger Woods and his Sun Day Red have "unlawfully hijacked" their logo, per @JGolden5: https://t.co/UEuoCgue04 pic.twitter.com/YJXTziyHRMSeptember 27, 2024
It's a stumbling block Woods could do without though as he looks to try and make his brand off the course almost as successful as he was on it.
Sun Day Red was announced in February and launched in May with many items selling out within hours of becoming available.
The brand was created soon after Woods split from Nike following his iconic 27-year relationship with the brand that even saw him branch out with his own range under the Nike umbrella.
Going out on his own, with TaylorMade backing him, was the next step for Woods but it seems his trademark application for his logo will have to be cleared in this dispute before going any further.
At the time of the launch Woods revealed his thinking in creating Sun Day Red, saying: "I think it's the right time.
"It's the right time in my life. It's transitional. I'm no longer a kid anymore. Life changes, I have kids and this is an important transitional part of my life and I want to have a brand that I'm proud of going forward."
