Now in the department of “Wait… Really?”, let’s take a quick gander at an ongoing story involving the Toronto Raptors – the team that just coughed up a game at home against the Golden State Warriors in game 5 of the NBA Finals and (checks notes) Monster Energy drink?
That’s right, Monster Energy believes that the Toronto Raptors memorable logo featuring a basketball with three claw marks in it (representing a raptor attack) infringes on their drink’s logo, which features a stylized “M” that looks as if it too has been clawed out by some sort of marauding, villainous beast.
Per a story on CBC, Monster Energy filed documents in June 2015 detailing what it believes to logo infringement by the Toronto Raptors:
“[Monster] has sold billions of dollars’ worth of goods under [its] mark,” say the company's documents filed in June 2015. Since 2002, the company has used the three gashes on everything from rock concerts to clothes, as well as on the energy drink. [Monster] will be damaged by registration of the [Raptors] in that the mark will dilute the distinctive qualities of [Monster's] mark … and will lessen the ability of [Monster's] mark to distinguish its goods.”
The other party in the case, the Raptors’ owner Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment, has responded in kind by claiming that the Raptors logo of a basketball with three claw marks in it has been used since the team’s inception in 1994, and the new logo is “the same or substantially the same,” Maple Leaf argues.
This is a developing story, but let’s hope both parties put their claws away and keep their energy levels in order to come to some sort of agreement.
Follow Us
Subscribe