LIV Golf team 4Aces team logo faces legal opposition from University of Alabama - Reports
LIV Golf's 4Aces GC team is facing a potential lawsuit over its team logo. This was reported by sports law attorney John Nucci on Thursday, July 11.
According to the report, the University of Alabama has filed a lawsuit against LIV Golf's 4Aces GC team logo. John Nucci used his X (formerly Twitter) account to provide the information and posted the following text:
"The University of Alabama has filed an opposition to LIV’s '4 Aces' trademark application, arguing that: The 4 Aces design contains the 'same literal element' as Alabama’s, and the style of the letter 'is visually similar to and creates a commercial impression similar to' the Alabama design."
However, Nucci elaborated on his report in a later post, stating that this legal action by the University of Alabama may have more to do with making it look like they were keeping an eye out for possible trademark infringement, and not so much that they think they have a real chance of winning the case.
The 4Aces GC team uses a predominantly blue letter "A" as its team logo, with various arabesques in the strokes. The University of Alabama also uses an "A" with similar arabesques, but in their case the color is red.
John Nucci is an attorney specializing in sports law. He is also a contributor to Conduct Detrimental, for which he covers golf law.
Other Lawsuits Against LIV Golf for Alleged Trademark Infringement
This is not the first time LIV Golf has been sued for alleged trademark infringement. In 2023, Adidas filed a motion to stop the breakaway league from using the league's logo.
The logo features a black and white letter "L" made up of four parallel stripes. Adidas argued that the LIV Golf logo was "confusingly similar" to that of the well-known sporting goods brand.
In a similar case, a nightclub in Miami named LIV also sued over the name of the Greg Norman-led league. Like the golf circuit, the nightclub uses the letters "LIV" in reference to the number 54 in ancient Roman numerals.
Both the Adidas and LIV nightclub cases were unsuccessful, as the league continued to use its logo and name without significant change.
LIV Golf was established in June 2022 with an individual and team competition format. It is financially backed by the Public Investment Fund (PIF) of Saudi Arabia, which has made the circuit the highest-paying circuit in world golf.
Since its inception, LIV Golf has recruited several of the world's top players, including Phil Mickelson, Brooks Koepka, Bryson DeChambeau, Dustin Johnson and Cameron Smith. The most recent star to join the league was Jon Rahm in December 2023.
The league also boasts several rising young stars such as Joaquin Niemann, David Puig, Eugenio Chacarra and Caleb Surratt.