Plenty of people assumed that the Ball family could be in some trouble after LaMelo Ball got his first sneaker with the family’s clothing line, Big Baller Brand. But as it turns out, the biggest issue on the horizon doesn’t come from the NCAA. Instead, it comes from a yoga studio in Canada.
Hana Engel, the owner of Ottawa-based Modern Body yoga studio, argues that LaVar Ball‘s clothing company stole her company’s logo and slapped it on the youngest Ball’s signature kick, the Melo Ball 1s. Here is the logo on the sneakers…
And here is the studio’s logo, taken from its Facebook page.
So they are obviously fairly similar, but it doesn’t look super blatant or anything, and you can probably assume that the Ball family was unaware that a Canadian yoga studio would press charges due to the youngest son’s logo. Still, this is potentially dangerous news for Big Baller Brand, as the shoes are available for sale in Canada and Engel has a full trademark on the logo up north, according to CTV News in Ottawa. Additionally, she is awaiting approval on the trademark in the United States.
The company has until September 29 to respond to a letter that Engel’s lawyer sent, which said “Any use of the Big Baller Mark in Canada by your client will be considered an infringement of our client’s exclusive trademark rights” and said that Engel “has the option” to pursue legal action.
(Via CTV News)
