Walmart “Tryin’ to Break Me Down”: Retail Giant Opposing Kanye West’s Yeezy Trademark May 19, 2021

As Kanye West once rapped, “We at war with terrorism, racism, but most of all, we at war with ourselves.” Well, now he can add Walmart to that list.

Last December, Kanye West’s apparel brand Yeezy, LLC filed a trademark application for a logo “consist[ing] of eight dotted lines . . . arranged at equal angles as rays from a sun.” Problematically however, at least according to Walmart, this logo (pictured below on the left) bears a close resemblance to the retail giant’s “spark” logo (pictured below on the right).

Late last month, Walmart filed a Notice of Opposition to the Yeezy trademark application, claiming in part that the use and registration thereof would be “likely to cause confusion, mistake and deception as to the source or origin of [Yeezy’s] goods and services and potentially create a false affiliation with [Walmart].” Walmart claims it would be injured and damaged by registration of the Yeezy trademark application and is subsequently requesting that it be refused registration.

The Yeezy trademark application identifies a wide range of goods and services, including musical recordings, clothing, retail services, streaming services, and live entertainment services. Walmart claims that its mark is already used in each of these areas, citing to Walmart’s sponsorship of music and entertainment award shows and entertainment venues, Walmart-exclusive albums, and Walmart’s massive retail presence. Due to the similarity of the marks and the goods and services, a consumer, Walmart alleges, is likely to believe the goods and services offered under the Yeezy mark emanate from, or are in some way sponsored by, Walmart, or vice versa. Walmart claims that this is compounded by the fact that Walmart “often partners with celebrities to create special lines of products and services” and “utilizes notable pop culture references to promote [its] goods and services.”

Kanye West has not responded to the Opposition yet, but it is safe to assume he is currently praying that his “feet don’t fail [him] now.”

The full Notice of Opposition is available here.

Nicholas J. Krob is an Associate Attorney in the Trademark, Licensing, and Litigation Practice Groups at McKee, Voorhees & Sease. For additional information, please visit www.ipmvs.com or contact Nicholas directly via email at nicholas.krob@ipmvs.com.