While the major news coming from Under Armour is that Kevin Plank will vacate his CEO role on New Year’s Day, the company is getting even more public attention through a lawsuit against a clothing company. In going after Ageas Inc. for its Hotsuit apparel, Under Armour is claiming that a “copycat logo” and the products that bear it are damaging its industry reputation.
Hotsuit logo at center of TM suit. #UnderArmour #UA #Ageas #Hotwaterhttps://t.co/GZWKbhczUV pic.twitter.com/DCJrM8YVtD
— Vaudra International (@vaudra) October 22, 2019
Under Armour has long received attention in our news coverage due to its hit-and-miss identity among many consumers. Thanks to its $5.2 billion in revenue, it has become one of the most visible brands around, and the company hopes that its size and reputation will help it defeat Ageas, a Denver-based entity that has issued an assortment of apparel goods in the Hotsuit line since 1999.
A Baltimore Sun account of the legal matter notes that Under Armour is saying the Ageas logo has “already caused confusion.”
We have covered a number of trademark infringement situations and have found ourselves occasionally weighing in on the direction in which a case might go. Under Armour, one could argue, does have time on its side, as it came into existence three years before Ageas began peddling Hotsuit goods. That point goes only so far, though, as someone has to feel quite strongly that the logos resemble each other so much that it could lead to increased Ageas sales at the expense of Under Armour.
Determining that will be the business of the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland, but we can say that if anyone should put up a gripe, it should not be Under Armour. To us, George Lucas and his “Star Wars” empire should be more incredulous, as we think the Ageas logo resembles a TIE fighter.
