An independent fashion brand based in New York is suing Nike and Michael Jordan for making use of its logo without permission. Rocco Giordano who is the founder of Faded Royalty is seeking $30M in damages for the unapproved use of his ‘six-point star’ symbol.
The star features on many items in Nike’s Jordan Chicago Collaborators’ Collection that was released in January. Giordano’s claim is that the symbol is almost the same with his own symbol that was created around year 2000 and trademarked in 2012.
Fox Business reports that Giordano discovered Nike’s design when he got “congratulatory messages from friends in the fashion industry.” Giordano in his complaint says the logo of Faded Royalty is popular throughout New York and he was “flabbergasted to learn that the fruits of his labour were being used without his consent for profits by one of the largest apparel companies in the world.”
While introducing the line, Nike said it was created by Chicago-based creative director Cody Hudson, who got the inspiration by “his fascination with motion-inspired graphics.” The star in question is said to be “a reimagining of the six-point star from the Chicago flag”.
The striking similarity between the two stars can not be denied and that fact that Giordano’s fashion pals mistook Nike’s new line for a collaboration with Faded Royalty should not come as a surprise. Whether there was any intentional foul play on Nike or Cody Hudson’s part or not, Giordano’s gut for trying to sue Nike should be commended.
