Major League Baseball’s Kansas City Royals in late August sued the National Women’s Soccer League over use of the Utah Royals’ name and insignia, per filings with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.
The American League club in its filing attached more than two dozen iterations of logos, team names and mascots. The filing states that the baseball team has long been known as simply the “Royals.”
Because of that, the suit claims, use of the soccer franchise’s name and other paraphernalia will likely cause “confusion” or “mistake,” and “deceive the trade and public”
The NWSL denied the allegations Tuesday, stating in its filing that there “no likelihood of confusion” between the two franchise’s logos.