Oct. 17 (UPI) — Louisiana-based Tigeraire says Tiger Woods and the owners of Sun Day Red golf apparel company improperly use a logo that violates the Tigeraire logo depicting a leaping tiger.
Tigeraire is based in Baton Rouge and invented and manufactures the Air Accelerator personal cooling device that creates airflow to cool individuals while working, playing sports or engaged in military matters.
Its tiger logo is based on logo used by the Louisiana State University “Bayou Bengals” and the university’s sports mascot, Tigeraire Chief Executive Officer Jack Karavich said Thursday in a news release.
“Tigeraire’s logo and name pays tribute to our close collaboration with Louisiana State University — our first partners in this technology,” Karavich said. “This brand and logo are personal, and we have a right to protect it.”
Karavich said Sun Day Red, its owner and golfer Tiger Woods infringe on the firm’s tiger logo by using a similar logo that is “nearly identical” and “causes confusion in the marketplace and at major golfing events.”
Sun Day Red uses a leaping tiger logo that Karavich says infringes on Tigeraire’s copyrighted logo.
Tigeraire said Sun Day Red, which is a wholly owned subsidiary of TaylorMade Golf, which in turn is owned by a South Korean private investment firm Centroid Investment Partners, began using a nearly identical tiger logo in April.
Tiger Woods launched the golf apparel line in May and in an interview with Carson Daly on the Today Show said the Sun Day Red tiger logo has 15 stripes that represent the 15 major tournament championships he has won during his professional golfing career.
Tigeraire in September filed a notice of opposition with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office and asked the federal agency to deny SDR’s trademark application.
Tigeraire officials said they tried to negotiate an amicable agreement with Sun Day Red, but the South Korean firm instead filed a federal lawsuit in California that pits the “local tech startup” against a “private equity giant.”
Tigeraire officials said they expect the California case filed by Sun Day Red to be dismissed.
They also said caddies, professional golfers and high-profile television and golf personalities repeatedly have confused the logos used by Tigeraire and Sun Day Red.
Some have accused Tigeraire of “ripping off Sun Day Red’s logo” despite Tigeraire launching its products for golfers in 2023 while the Sun Day Red golfing apparel brand was launched in 2024.
“Our first products targeted football, which is a very small market,” Karavich said. “Golf offers greater opportunity for more people to use our technology, with roughly 70 million golfer worldwide.”