Nike Triumphs Over Kawhi Leonard In “Klaw” Logo Legal Matter

will have to find a new signature logo after losing his legal battle against regarding an image he originally created. The “Klaw” logo that the Los Angeles Clippers star designed several years ago solely belongs to his former shoe company and won’t appear anywhere else.

The Oregonian reports that on Wednesday (April 22), U.S. District Judge Michael W. Mosman ruled that the Klaw logo was an “independent piece of intellectual property” and not under Leonard’s ownership despite initially designing the logo from a sketch. In comparing the images in court documents, it’s clear that Nike’s design team refined Leonard’s work, and he actually praised the team’s work while still a member of the shoe and apparel company’s lineup back in 2014.

Leonard launched the suit against Nike last June while still a member of the Toronto Raptors squad that went on and won the championship over the Golden State Warriors. In his suit, Leonard charged Nike with lifting the hand-drawn design he made while in college that features his jersey number and initials. Nike claimed in a countersuit that it held exclusive rights to the image and even used a 2014 quote from the player praising the company’s artistic direction.

Nike agreed that it took Leonard’s original art and refined it for usage on some of the brand’s athletic products, most notably a version of the Air Jordan 6 shoe.

Tough break for Leonard. Legally, his only course of action would be to design a similar design to place on his current line of New Balance basketball sneakers.

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Photo: Getty