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Clancy PC, Intellectual Property Law, Paula Clancy, Trademarks, Canadian IP, @CanadianIP, IP
By Ashley Moniz  Photo by Zoë Reeve on Unsplash Tennis superstar Roger Federer can once again use his signature RF logo, having acquired the rights to use it from his former sponsor, Nike. Federer has not been able to wear the logo on his competition attire for 18 months, as he signed a new sponsorship agreement with Japanese apparel giant, Uniqlo.
Federer’s wife had created an early iteration of the RF logo for Federer’s 2003 fragrance. Nike took inspiration from this design when creating the RF mark for an exclusive cardigan it sold for the 2009 Wimbledon Tournament. Nike registered the RF logo in the US in 2010 and subsequently in numerous other jurisdictions around the world. For roughly a decade, the logo was seen on Roger Federer’s competition attire, as well as caps and warm-up jackets available for retail sale. After Federer signed with Uniqlo in 2018, Nike maintained its ownership of the logo pending the sale of remaining RF merchandise. During this time, Federer still wore Nike shoes bearing the logo, since Uniqlo does not manufacture tennis shoes. In February 2020, Nike and Federer came to an out-of-court settlement which included Nike assigning the rights in the RF logo to Federer’s own corporation, Tenro AG. Details of the settlement have not been made public. For more information about maintaining, reclaiming, or transferring ownership of your marks, contact us. Comments are closed.
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