The logo that professional golfer Phil Mickelson’s LIV Golf team, HyFlyers GC, uses on its merchandise and elsewhere infringes on trademarks held by Fallen Footwear by being “nearly identical” to the logo of the skateboarding apparel/footwear brand, a lawsuit alleges.

Cool Brands Supply Co., an Argentina-based firm that owns the intellectual property rights to Fallen, has filed the suit in the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey in an effort to get HyFlyers GC to stop using the logo.

Defendants in the suit are HyFlyers GC and LIV Golf Incorporated, a professional golf tour that began in 2022 and that is backed by the sovereign wealth fund of Saudi Arabia.

Cool Brands is seeking compensatory damages from the defendants and wants a judge to compel HyFlyers/LIV to account for and pay to it “all gains, profits and advantages” derived from the alleged infringement.

Cool Brands, which court papers say has offices and a substantial presence in the United States, asserts that it asked HyFlyers GC/LIV to stop using the logo at issue and that the defendants refused – something that shows “willful infringement and unfair competition,” the lawsuit maintains.

The HyFlyers logo has appeared on items that include hats, shirts and sweatshirts, the lawsuit states. Mickelson, for instance, was photographed wearing a hat with the HyFlyers insignia at this year’s Masters tournament – an occurrence that allowed the logo to be broadcast to “millions of consumers worldwide,” Cool Brands says.

Fallen’s logo, which it has used for about 20 years, features on shoes, hats, clothing and accessories. It’s composed of two artistically styled back-to-back “Fs” for Fallen Footwear. The HyFlyers logo also displays stylized letters. The composition of the letters in both logos is suggestive of wings.

“The similarities between the two marks, particularly when used on clothing, are striking, and are confusing consumers and causing damage to the Plaintiff’s senior mark and brand,” the lawsuit asserts.

Since HyFlyers began using the logo some months ago, Cool Brands says that it has “received numerous customer comments and complaints regarding a supposed affiliation” with LIV Golf. Some of the outcry stems from the belief among critics that LIV Golf is backed by a monarchy that is alleged to have been involved with human rights abuses, the lawsuit says.

Legal arguments and outcomes in trademark and copyright cases related to graphics on apparel and branded merchandise can prove valuable for promotional products pros, as they consider potential trademark/copyright issues in the course of business.

Distributors who are rebranding/creating a new logo and/or advising clients on logo/graphic creation can help protect against getting embroiled in infringement claims by conducting a trademark search in the U.S. Patent and Trademark’s Trademark Electronic Search System.