Rapper Snoop Dogg facing legal battle against Maple Leafs

East Coast vs West Coast 2.0?

HockeyFeed
HockeyFeed
Published 5 years ago
Rapper Snoop Dogg facing legal battle against Maple Leafs
Zuma Press

Multi platinum selling hip hop artist Snoop Dogg has become embroiled in a legal battle with the Toronto Maple Leafs over the use of branding material that the NHL team feels violates its internationally recognized trademark.

Snoop launched a cannabis brand called “Leafs by Snoop” back in 2015 and is now facing legal action brought about by the Maple Leafs regarding the name and logo used by his cannabis company.

Snoop, referred to in the legal paperwork for the trademark by his real name Calvin Broadus, is attempting to protect the intellectual property and branding of his start-up and filed for a trademark in July last year. 

The NHL’s Leafs insist that the “unusual spelling of Leafs could lead to confusion” and officially filed a trademark violation against Snoop last month. Further, the Leafs argue that the Leafs by Snoop logo bears a close resemblance to the team’s logo.

Check it out:



Hmmm…. that seems like a bit of a stretch but… you know… lawyers… 

"Applicant’s design mark uses a white font enclosed within a wide-shaped leaf with three large segments at the top of the mark, a  design echoing and highly similar to the MAPLE LEAFS’ design marks,“ say the Leafs in their statement.

Further statements:

"The Toronto Maple Leafs hockey club has been an iconic member of the National Hockey League (the “NHL”) since the league’s inception in 1917, and, as such, is one of the NHL’s famed “Original Six” clubs. The Maple Leafs have won the Stanley Cup – the NHL’s championship trophy – thirteen times in their history. The Maple Leafs recently celebrated their 100th anniversary. The Maple Leafs have a large fan base throughout the United States and Canada.”
"Over 90 years ago, the Maple Leafs adopted as one of their key brand names the trademark LEAFS. They have used their LEAFS mark in United States commerce since 1927. The LEAFS mark reflects a highly unusual and distinctive spelling, since the plural of the English language word “leaf” is usually presented as “leaves,” not “leafs.”"

I don’t know about you… but I smell a collaboration… 



But then again, that could just be the Leafs by Snoop that I’m smelling…

Source: The Guardian