ESPN Sues Quiksilver Over X-Games Logo
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Here’s an interesting little nugget of news. Apparently there’s a trademark dispute going on over the letter “X”. You’ve got to be stoked if you’re a lawyer in this country! True to our nation’s litigious nature, ESPN Inc. has sued Quiksilver Inc. on claims that it violated the cable channel’s X-Games franchise.
ESPN Spokesperson Katie Moses Swope offered this statement: “We have filed a trademark infringement action in Federal District Court for the Southern District of New York against Quiksilver for their use of a mark confusingly similar to our famous stylized X mark, which has become synonymous with action sports and ESPN’s X Games. We value our intellectual property rights and intend to take the appropriate steps to protect those rights around the world. We tried unsuccessfully to resolve this matter before taking this next step and are confident that we will prevail.”
The suit alleges: “Despite protests by ESPN, Quiksilver has since willfully expanded the use of the infringing mark, and Quiksilver’s apparel and accessories are now replete with the infringing mark.”
Quiksilver Spokesperson Joshua Katz says that the company believes the claims by ESPN lack any merit and are completely unfounded. “ESPN contacted Quiksilver only one time in the fall of 2007,” says Katz. “ESPN never responded to Quiksilver’s attempts to discuss these issues. Quiksilver is very surprised by this litigation, particularly given Quiksilver and DC Shoes’ historical support of ESPN and the X-Games. Although we expect an amicable resolution, Quiksilver will vigorously defend its trademarks, and it has shown a history of success in this area as evidenced by its recent victory in a Roxy trademark case.”
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May 8th, 2008 at 9:41 am
X Games should be grateful. It gives them instant credibility in the eyes of all the wahoos that can’t tell an apple from an orange.
May 8th, 2008 at 11:28 am
Since when can you trademark letters in the alphabet? What next, the number “1″?
May 8th, 2008 at 1:48 pm
Quiksilver has been using the “Gen X” logo since the ’70’s. I’m not an attorney, but wouldn’t you think who ever used it first has the right’s to it?
May 8th, 2008 at 1:53 pm
I thought the same thing about the “X” when I saw it the first time. Either way, their is a striking similarity.
May 8th, 2008 at 2:27 pm
Take the white globe out of the “X” games logo, and it’s the “Gen X” logo. Knowing Quiksilver they had it trade marked, so who should be suing who? Either way, the only people who make out are the attorney’s..
May 8th, 2008 at 4:58 pm
I just heard from a source at Sesame St. that the letter “C” was also preparing to bring defamation of character charges against Quik.
It claims that by omitting “C” from it’s rightful place in the word “Quiksilver,” the company influenced other commercial entities like Quik-E-Mart and Quik Lube to drop their “C”s as well, ultimately leading to decreased exposure and loss of residual revenue for the alphabet’s third letter.
May 8th, 2008 at 7:38 pm
As Duke said, Quiksilver has been using the “X” for a number of years in their “Gen X” product offerings. ESPN is way out of line on this non-issue. Filing suit against a leading action sports brand is a recipe for disaster.
May 9th, 2008 at 3:38 am
looked at the quicksilver wbsite after reading this. i’m not a lawyer but i get what espn is complaining about.
May 9th, 2008 at 3:47 am
LMAO @ Sheky.
ESPN is shooting themselves in the foot with this one. First they piss off the skateboarders now they are suing one of the largest boardsports companies over a suss trademark issues? Yeah, good luck with that one.
This comment was brought to you by the letter “p”.
May 9th, 2008 at 6:42 am
Quik has been using the “x” for more than 25 yrs, i hope they file a counter suit and ruin ESPN. Are we seeing the collapse of the X games?
May 9th, 2008 at 7:06 am
ESPN is showing that they are just another example of corporate America, first, benefiting from the fruits of all our labor’s, then, thanking us by kicking us in the teeth. Quiksilver should team up with Fuel TV and create the “Gen X” games.
May 9th, 2008 at 7:10 am
They are gona need a lot of Gillette X-treme deodorant to cover the smell of this lawsuit.
May 9th, 2008 at 8:05 am
fuck those corpo kooks, both quik and ESPN. The athletes have made both those companies millions and millions of dollars. Give it a rest already
May 9th, 2008 at 2:39 pm
This is a joke on espn’s part considering we are the true orginators and participants of the action sports industry and Extreme Games (How lame does that sound?) They didn’t even start using the term “X” as a branding point until late in the game. The term generation “X” was built on the cornerstone of brands like Quiksilver, Stussy, Pirate Surf, Plan B and Vision to say a few… The letter “X” at Quiksilver goes back to the days of the start Echo Beach and into the era of Kelly Slater and beyond. There was also the sub-category X70 that lived under the Quiksilver umbrella as well that used the letter X as it’s branding point. There is going to be plenty of evidence that Quik is in the right. …This is a typical lawyer accusation that has no clue who he is speaking too…
May 9th, 2008 at 3:22 pm
It’s a letter nothing else!!! and that’s it…NO ONE owns a letter. E S P N
QUIKSILVER is # 1 Don’t forget it!
May 9th, 2008 at 4:45 pm
MAYBE QUIK AND FUEL SHOULD START THE “GEN X” GAMES. JUST AN IDEA….
May 9th, 2008 at 5:47 pm
this is stupid
its just the letter x
May 10th, 2008 at 7:20 am
are u kidding me.sueing quik over the letter x. thats similar to there X .if anything they should be thanking Quiksilver for promoting that similar x in the x games!!!
May 10th, 2008 at 9:53 am
There’s no similarity between the two logos… believe me. Just look at X-Games X stressed in the area surrounding the globe.