Fox News reports Nike on Friday apologized and halted the release of a logo for a sportswear line that bore a striking similarity to the U.S. Naval Academy crest scheduled to launch Sunday.
The logo, which was a collaboration between Nike and Undefeated, a Los Angeles sportswear line, sparked backlash on social media and prompted the rebuke from the U.S. Naval Academy.
“The similarities of the Nike/UNDEFEATED logo released this week and the USNA Crest are undeniable and we believe their logo is clearly an infringement under trademark law. USNA is working with Navy leadership to order Nike/UNDEFEATED to cease and desist their use of the logo,” the Naval Academy tweeted.
An academy spokeswoman also released a statement Friday obtained by The Washington Post.
“The Naval Academy crest represents honor, integrity and leadership,” she said. “And is emblematic of our students and more than 80,000 alumni who serve and have served our country, many of whom made the ultimate sacrifice in its defense.”
Comments poured in on social media calling the logo “just plain wrong” and a “ripoff,” while some on Twitter called it “stolen valor,” according to The Post.
I’m willing to bet most folks at Nike and Undefeated had no idea someone in the graphic arts department was ripping of the Naval Academy’s Crest; the quick apology and rescinding of the logo is welcome. Now they need to publicly fire those responsible.
Or is Nike just sorry they got caught? Time will tell.
I think that’s the more accurate assessment of the situation.
all of these logos look the same. Big “meh” here.
Is it copyrighted or protected?
Yes, it is.
“Just Do It.”
And they did it. Without thinking or researching.
BTW, trivia about Nike’s slogan:
“Just Do It (stylized as JUST DO IT.)is a trademark of shoe company Nike, and one of the core components of Nike’s brand. The slogan was coined in 1988 at an advertising agency meeting. The founder of Wieden+Kennedy agency, Dan Wieden credits the inspiration for his “Just Do It” Nike slogan to Gary Gilmore’s last words: ‘Let’s do it’.”
I bet their is a few slow boats from china loaded with that gear on the way still.
…with the leftover US Army Black Beret heading toward Military Surplus stores…😎
Thailand.
Uh, so what? They took the mere shape and changed all of the insignia and phrases within to make it their own. I, for one, don’t see the big deal.
Was sorta thinking the same thing. Just how many crest shapes are there anyway?
What is concerning to me is this:
“USNA is working with Navy leadership to order Nike/UNDEFEATED to cease and desist…”
Who gave these clowns the authority to order anyone other than their cadets to do or cease to do anything? Likewise for big Navy – who gave them the authority to order anyone other than Navy personnel to do or not do anything? Apparently whoever wrote that release thinks they do.
They don’t. I hope.
You don’t think that buried in USNA(and probably every other service academy) isn’t someone whose task is to make sure their image isn’t compromised, logo etc. appropriated, and so on? Companies and institutions spend tons of money on their images, and ALWAYS have lawyers on call for that.
No doubt that someone somewhere within the military such people exist. As they should. That is a far cry from them having the authority to order civilians around. It is concerning to me that somebody in the Navy chain of command would think that they could do so.
Words matter. Sure, we all misstate things, and I offend plenty often. However, nobody is paying me to carefully word a missive going out to the world to explain the positon of an entire military branch of service.
I would assume that the reason they feel they can “order” someone is because the logo is trademarked. Now to be precise, it would be a judge that issues the order, and a lawyer that requests such, so they still used unclear verbiage, but I believe that it’s based on trademark law, not some feeling that the military has the right to order civilians to do anything
Yes, buried in every bureaucracy is someone who does nothing but deal with logo/trademark infringement as their job. All the way up to the Pentagon level, there are those who do this kind of thing.
Meanwhile, at battalion level, I have 15 additional duties, am covering 3 duty positions by myself, and have to do Officer shit because we’re so short-handed.
My thought exactly. Actually, I thought the logo of “that other service academy” logo was an empty PBR can. Go figure.
Nike for the under dog gilmore. Not supprised.
I’ve got an idea for a Nike flag. Stay with me on this. It will be a rectangle, with white stars against a blue background in the upper left quadrant. The rest of the flag will be alternating red and white stripes. I hope they like it.
Nike should provide the next 6 Camo patterns to our military for free although that would only cover a couple of years in the camo of the month club
The USNA crest is the USNA’s crest. Nike is ubiquitous. Before too long, the USNA’s crest will be mistaken for the Nike crest, which might not be a bad idea. Join Nike. See the world.
Even though I am GO ARMY! BEAT NAVY! (Again!), I can understand why the USNA reaction as well as feelings (yes, feelings) on what Nike did.
IMHO, Perhaps if one is a member/graduate of any Military Academy, one may understand ( well, maybe not LT Rapone). And no, am not a Military Academy graduate. I view it as someone wearing Blue Cords or CIBs when they were never Infantry…(you hear that, SP5 Richard Hollingswoth), Airborne/ Air Assault/ Pathfinder/ RANGER Tabs, Navy SEAL when they never attended the courses, PHs they never received, claiming any POW status when they never was captured by the enemy…on and on and on…just my own personal opinion/two cents/feelings.
“reaction” = “reacted”.
“as well as feelings” = “as well as their feelings”
“they never was captured” = “they never were captured”
Durn it, Claw, you gave me PTSD from that ” BEEP! BEEP!” song…and the can of coffee was Decaf…( in reality, I goofed and did not proofread my novel)..😎
Go Las Vegas Golden Knights hockey team! Army didn’t win its copyright infringement.
Converse Rubber. Malden MA.
Everybody worked there and wore the sneakers.
Big square brick factory in the middle of the salt marshes. 50’s, 60’s…life was good.
Smaller Nike bought it in the nineties and moved everything to Thailand. Key employees included. A recent death of one such employee struck home.
My guess is some low level employee shitbaggery is at hand with the logo.
Converse All Star High Tops are the best thing to wear when working on metal roofs. Stick like glue.
So let me get this straight.
A patent covering a new scientific discovery or a new technological process last only 20 years, while a copyright covering a song or film last hundreds of years?
Who lobbied Congress on this?
“Who lobbied Congress on this?” Once in a while, a glimmer of light shines from you and I get hopeful. Then, something like that line happens. Dahell am I going to do with you, Yef?
Yef … a bit of research (once you can get away from the floor buffer) will help you here.
Google “patent” and “copyright.”
They are not the same thing.
Now get back to work!
Nike should hand out a free pair of shoes to everyone in the Navy. One pair and one pair only.
It can go to the Sailor, his/her spouse, their child, etc.
That would go a long way to “shoring” up the damage and building a lasting partnership.
Here is an example of a coat of arms that is in the public domain, yet its use is limited to the provisions in the “Licensing” paragraph. Perhaps that is what Nike needs to look into:
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:USNS_Howard_O_Lorenzen_coat_of_arms.png
I see the USN football uniform carries the Under Armour logo. Maybe that is the behind the scenes sticking point.
I’m thinking there is no=one at Nike that had any idea what it looked like. I know I didn’t and would never have if someone hadn’t pointed it out to me.
Nike and the heads at Undefeated probably thought it looked cool and had a giant “holy shit” moment when the complaints poured in. They should be commended for quickly backtracking and apologizing for this screw up. Shit happens, it’s not always a giant fuck you to the military.