Naval Academy Wins Battle With Nike Over Logo

ANNAPOLIS, MD — Victory goes to the U.S. Naval Academy in a battle with sports apparel giant Nike, which has apologized to the service academy and halted the launch of a new clothing line. The tussle came after academy officials said the logo for Nike's new collection with a boutique was a rip-off of the academy's crest that infringed on trademark copyrights. Nike and a Los Angeles store named Undefeated had planned to launch a line called The Fives on Saturday that includes shirts, pants, jackets and other soccer apparel featuring the controversial crest, reports say.

But academy officials said the logo design for the apparel was much too similar to the long-time crest of the Annapolis institution. Both crests feature columns with founding dates, and lettering in similar positions; the academy crest has a ship in the center and a trident at the top of the image, while Undefeated has tally marks in the center and a Nike swoosh at the top. (See both images below.)

The Naval Academy said it is working with Navy leadership to order Nike/Undefeated to cease and desist their use of the logo.

Friday evening Nike officials said in a statement: “We recently were made aware of our logo being included into a design that has been previously used by one of our longstanding partners. We have always respected the US Navy and its Academy and have been a longtime supporter of the military," The Washington Post reports. “We do not feel it is appropriate to move forward with the collection. We apologize to anyone who was offended.”

In a statement Thursday night the school fired the fire shots in the battle: "The Naval Academy crest represents honor, integrity and leadership, and is emblematic of our students and more than 80,000 alumni who serve and have served our country, many of whom made the ultimate sacrifice in its defense. It is difficult to understand why anyone would modify and use our symbol without permission for marketing and profit motives.

"‪The similarities of the Nike/UNDEFEATED logo released this week and the USNA Crest are undeniable and we believe their logo is clearly an infringement under trademark law. The Naval Academy is working with Navy leadership to order Nike/UNDEFEATED to cease and desist their use of the logo.‬"

And Undefeated unveiled its new logo on Twitter Monday, only to remove it Friday after the backlash began.

Commenters on the Academy's Facebook page bashed Nike for not doing a thorough copyright review, for lacking creativity in its art department, and some urged academy supporters to sink Undefeated's website with poor product reviews.

"Disgraceful — is Nike willing to put their lives on the line to protect this country? Fear the Goat and hands off their symbols," wrote Andrew Ziegler on Facebook.

And there were lots of "Go Navy, Beat Nike" cheers on social media, as well.

Undefeated officials have not commented on the furor and the academy's demand to drop the logo.

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Photo of the U.S. Naval Academy by Patch Editor Emily Leayman