Nike's iconic Jordan Jumpman logo design is one of the best sports logos around, and the sportswear giant doesn't take kindly to imposters. Currently on its radar is Colorado's Skiman LLC, whose logo appears to show what Chicago Bulls legend Michael Jordan might look like had he taken to the pistes rather than the basketball court.
Nike has sent the company a bunch of cease-and-desist letters and asked Skiman to voluntarily cancel its trademark. But the ski apparel brand's founder has vowed to fight to defend a logo that he says he designed himself (see our own guide to how to design a logo).
Skiman founder Stephen Fucik says he designed his clothing brand's logo to represent someone performing a daffy, a mogul trick where the skier kicks one leg out forward and one leg back as far as possible, trying to keep the skis vertical. He registered the logo with the US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) back in December 2020 and no objections were raised at the time.
Fucik is based in Colorado, which is well associated with skiing and outdoorsy brands. He told Denver7 in an interview: “[skiiing] is the ultimate freedom sport that you can do. I just thought of a logo that just resembled what it is to be free on the mountain."
Fucik says the letters from Nike argue that the Skiman logo is "confusingly similar" to its Jordan Jumpman logo. One warned that Nike may pursue "any and all available legal prescriptions" to protect its valuable trademarks. Fucik says he's tried to negotiate to no avail but plans to press on. He told Denver7: “Am I ready to fight this? Yeah. I mean, sometimes you gotta do what’s right. And I’m ready to fight for this.”
We look forward to seeing if he manages to da-ffy Nike (sorry). We've seen how a Japanese clothing brand trolled Gucci and won. And we saw Adidas seriously mess up with its logo complaint against Black Lives Matter.
