LOS ANGELES — LIV Golf may have avoided litigation with the PGA Tour. But the lawsuits keep on coming.
Cool Brands Supply, an Argentinian corporation, filed a federal lawsuit Thursday accusing LIV Golf and Phil Mickelson’s HyFlyers GC team of using a “nearly identical logo” that is used for Fallen Footwear.
Fallen, an American skateboarding footwear and apparel brand, was founded by professional skateboarder Jamie Thomas in 2003.
“Defendants’ adoption and use of their knockoff logo nearly twenty years after Plaintiff commenced use and in the face of Plaintiff’s federal trademark registration is not just reckless and inexplicable—it is willful infringement and unfair competition,” Cool Brands’ attorneys allege in the lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court in New Jersey.
The team is captained by Mickelson and includes James Piot, Brendan Steele and Cameron Tringale. The current back-to-back F’s logo was adpoted this year and unveiled in February on their uniforms and merchandise.
Mickelson is playing in this week’s U.S. Open at Los Angeles Country Club. He was one of 11 LIV golfers who filed an antitrust lawsuit against the PGA Tour in August 2022. His name was dropped after LIV Golf joined the lawsuit.
But that lawsuit and any others between LIV and the PGA Tour is expected to be dropped after the stunning annoucement last week that united the Tour and Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, which owns LIV Golf.
With reports Tour commissioner Jay Monahan will oversee the new joint venture, it is unknown what LIV Golf will look like next year.