During last year's NBA Finals, Kawhi Leonard was taking on
more than the Golden State Warriors. In the middle of the Finals,
he filed a lawsuit against the company he formerly
endorsed—Nike—in the Southern District of California
(original complaint here). At issue was Leonard's "Klaw
Logo," which he claimed to have conceived before his contract
with Nike. An early sketch of the logo and the design Nike
ultimately used are shown side-by-side here.
While we are still awaiting a written opinion that will provide
more comprehensive reasons, it has been widely reported that
Leonard's case was dismissed from the bench (i.e. a
teleconference in the age of COVID-19). The court is said to have
distinguished the two logos as independent pieces of intellectual
property.
