Nike has confronted a small Colorado-based ski apparel company over the use of a trademark that resembles its Jordan Jumpman emblem.
The sportswear giant has reportedly sent multiple cease-and-desist letters to Skiman LLC and its owner Stephen Fucik to stop using the mark and to voluntarily give up his trademark or face legal consequences, Denver7 reports.
Skiman successfully trademarked the logo with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) in December 2020. The mark is described as depicting “a skier performing a maneuver called a daffy.”
According to Fucik, Nike did not challenge the mark until his logo was approved and not until after he created an online presence and sold Skiman LLC merchandise featuring the trademarked “daffy” logo. The USPTO’s website does not indicate Fucik received any challenges from Nike during the registration process.
In the cease-and-desist letters, Nike allegedly claimed that Skiman LLC’s logo was confusingly similar to its “Jumpman” logo. One letter asked him to “voluntarily cancel” his trademark, Denver 7reported. Another letter said Nike may pursue “any and all available legal remedies… to protect its valuable trademarks.”
“I don’t know how they found out about me,” Fucik said in the report. “I know they have a team of lawyers that this is what they do is peruse the internet, and look up, you know, small businesses.”
Fucik had hoped that having a registered trademark would protect him from such claims from other businesses. He said abandoning his logo could be the end of his clothing line. “It’s what my company is based off of, so it would completely destroy my company,” he added.
FN has reached out to Nike for comment.
This isn’t the first time Nike’s Jumpman logo was involved in a legal dispute. In March 2019, the United States Supreme Court rejected an appeal from photographer Jacobus Rentmeester, who claimed that the sportswear giant infringed upon a copyrighted image of Michael Jordan to create its iconic Jumpman logo.
The photo in question was taken in 1984 and shot for Life magazine, when Rentmeester was still a student at the University of North Carolina. It shows Jordan with his legs stretched wide, the ball cupped in his left hand as he attempts to dunk on an outdoor basket. The legendary NBA star was pictured in a U.S. Olympic team uniform and Converse sneaker.
In the petition, Rentmeester said he conceived, directed and shot a “never-before-used pose — inspired by ballet — to generate Jordan’s appearance of weightlessness and power.” He claimed that Nike’s image “copies virtually every original element expressed in the Rentmeester photo.” The composition was ultimately ranked as one of Time magazine’s 100 most influential images of all time.
In 2015, Rentmeester sued Nike for copyright violation — more than 30 years after snapping the photo. However, lower courts ruled in the Beaverton, Ore.-based company’s favor, with a district court throwing out the case and an appeals court upholding this decision.