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Tiger Woods didn’t waste any time launching a new brand after ending his longtime partnership with Nike at the start of the year, but the venture dubbed “Sun Day Red” has run into a bit of an issue after another company accused it of ripping off its logo.
At this point, Tiger Woods has firmly entered the twilight of his career. However, the golf legend is still the most marketable name in the sport, and there were plenty of other brands who were waiting to swoop in when he announced he was severing ties with Nike at the start of 2024 close to 30 years after signing a deal with the company after he turned pro in the mid-1990s.
The folks at TaylorMade were able to box out the rest of the competition, and in February, they announced the launch of Sun Day Red, a sublabel inspired by the signature color he’s historically rocked on the last day of tournaments.
It would appear the decision to stylize the brand as three words instead of two stemmed from a trademark issue that arose courtesy of a random guy who secured the rights to “Sunday Red” in 2009, but it would appear the powers that be failed to do their due diligence based on a new issue that’s arisen.
According to Marketing Interactive, Sun Day Red has found itself on the receiving end of a trademark dispute that was filed by Tigeraire, a company that specializes in personal fans targeted at workers who have to deal with hot conditions while on the job as well as athletes—including golfers.
Tigeraire—which also produces hats and shirts emblazoned with a leaping tiger logo that does look pretty similar to the one Sun Day Red whipped up—asserts Tiger’s brand “unlawfully hijacked” its design while noting it has already carved out space for itself in the golf world by advertising at tournaments.
It’s subsequently petitioning the USPTO to block Sun Day Red’s trademark application, so it’ll be interesting to see how this ultimately plays out.