USA's Tiger Woods lines up a putt on day two of the Open at Royal Troon, South Ayrshire, Scotland. Picture date: Friday July 19, 2024.
Jane Barlow | PA Pictures | Getty 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 an objection to Sun Day Red's tiger logo with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, saying the golf legend's company had “unlawfully incorporated” Tigeraire's design into its own branding.
In a subsequent filing, Woods' legal team sued Tigeraire, accusing the company of trying to capitalize 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 represents the well-known fact that an opportunistic, misguided company seeks to extract unfair financial gain from a larger and more successful brand by threatening legal action and demanding exorbitant amounts,” the lawsuit states.
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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 attempted in good faith to resolve the infringement claims through negotiations and that Tigeraire made “outrageous monetary demands” from Sun Day Red, owned by TaylorMade.
The lawsuit also states that Tigeraire recently began participating in golf tournaments and changed the homepage of its website to prominently feature golfers 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 Baton Rouge-based company partnered with the university's football team in 2020 to provide cooling for its players.
In a statement Tuesday, more than a week after the Sun Day Red lawsuit was filed, Tigeraire said the mark and logo are personal.
“For a foreign private equity firm to sue us for enforcing this right and then claim we are close to payday is an insult to every single person in our small business who works to deliver quality products that do Improving the lives of our customers,” Tigeraire CEO Jack Karavich said in the statement.
A detail of hats and a club cover during the launch of Tiger Woods and TaylorMade Golf's new apparel and footwear brand “Sun Day Red” at Palisades Village on February 12, 2024 in Pacific Palisades, California.
Kevork Djansezian | Getty Images Sports | Getty Images
Trademark attorney Josh Gerben called the lawsuit an “aggressive response” to the trademark dispute.
He pointed out that it is very expensive for a smaller company like Tigeraire to take a case to federal court.
“These cases often favor the party that has the resources to go to trial, and that can make it challenging,” Gerben said.
Sun Day Red was launched in May after Woods ended his 27-year partnership with Nike.
The brand name pays homage to the fact that Woods always wears red on Sundays, and the logo pays homage to the 15 majors he won throughout his career, Woods previously said.
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