Walmart is objecting to a new logo for Kanye West’s Yeezy LLC, saying that it looks too much like its own logo, an image that resembles a spark.
As reported by the New York Post, the large retailer filed an objection with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office over West’s new logo that was filed for his Yeezy LLC in January of last year.
The outlet reported, “The design, which West’s company said may be used in conjunction with sneakers, underwear, T-shirts, furniture, modular homes and even hotel services, consists of eight lines made up of three dots each that emerge from a circle to form ‘rays,’ according to legal papers.” Walmart’s own logo includes rays that consist of lines.
Last week, Walmart filed a notice of opposition, claiming that the two designs could create “confusion” and that it may result in a “[f]alse suggestion of a connection.”
The company’s notice stated that “through many years of use, [Walmart’s] Mark has become well known and famous as a distinctive indicator of the origin of [Walmart’s] goods and services and a symbol of [Walmart’s] goodwill.”
It added, “The use and registration of [Yeezy’s] Mark is likely to cause confusion, mistake and deception as to the source or origin of [Yeezy’s] goods and services and potentially create a false affiliation with [Walmart’s] Mark which will injure and damage [Walmart] and the goodwill contained within [Walmart’s] Mark.”
The company also pointed out that it has done business with many members of pop culture and entertainment, noting that Walmart “has sold products and done marketing campaigns in association with Jennifer Garner, the cast of Queer Eye, Drew Barrymore, Kendall and Kylie Jenner, Ellen DeGeneres, and Sofia Vergara to name a few. Additionally, [Walmart] has previously had television advertisement campaigns featuring notable movie figures.”
Walmart also noted that there is no issue of priority between the two logos, since its own design was first used in 2007.
Walmart declined to comment to FOX Business, but a spokesperson pointed to a letter it sent to Yeezy’s lawyers two days prior to the company filing the notice. According to the letter, Walmart wrote to West’s company in July 2020, August 2020, January 2021, and February 2021 and also had a conference over the phone last month.
“Walmart has repeatedly sought to understand Yeezy’s planned use of the Yeezy Application, with the goal of finding ways in which the Walmart Spark Design and the Yeezy Application can co-exist with one another,” the letter said. “However, to date, we have not received any conclusive information from Yeezy regarding the planned use or any cooperation from Yeezy in order to find common ground.”
Kanye West also recently filed another logo for approval — an image for his Yeezy x Gap fashion line. The logo looks similar to the logo used for Gap and appears to be a reference to the partnership, a 10-year deal that can reportedly renew after five years have passed. According to TMZ, “Yeezy Gap is reportedly planning to introduce merch in the first half of this year, and Gap’s has huge expectations for the spinoff brand — $1 billion in sales.” The clothing line’s Instagram page notes that the apparel will be for men, women and kids with clothing coming to the market in the first half of 2021.