Alabama files opposition against trademark application from LIV Golf's '4 Aces'

The University of Alabama is throwing down a legal gauntlet in efforts to protect the trademark on the school’s iconic script letter “A” logo, according to sports attorney John Nucci. And the alleged party potentially infringing on the Crimson Tide’s logo? LIV Golf and one of its teams, 4 Aces.

LIV Golf has filed a trademark application for the logo, which Alabama is seeking to prevent, arguing its too similar of a logo to the one the Crimson Tide has locked down.

The 4 Aces logo is worn by the 4 Aces LIV Golf team, comprised of Dustin Johnson, Pat Perez, Patrick Reed and Harold Varner III. The logo, a white letter/symbol on a navy blue field, is both a script letter A and numerical symbol 4 at the same time.

And held up side-to-side, the logos do bear a certain semblance.

NEW: 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”… pic.twitter.com/YssZQBvNJw

— John Nucci (@JNucci23) July 11, 2024

In trademark law, a trademark holder is empowered to and usually seeks to protect their trademark. That gives Alabama the leeway to lodge this legal challenge against the 4 Aces team trying to trademark a logo that the Crimson Tide feels is too similar to its own.

As Nucci noted, Alabama is arguing the 4 Aces logo contains the “same literal element” and the similarities could lead to an impression similar to that of the Alabama script A logo. And this is not the only trademark challenge LIV is currently facing, with Adidas among the other parties pushing back on the global golf series.

The SEC made a big sponsorship announcement

The SEC is preparing to take off for their upcoming athletic year in ’24-’25. Now, Southwest Airlines will exclusively be helping them to do that.

Per a press release on Thursday, Southwest is now the official airline of the Southeastern Conference. The deal with the league and its television network officially started at the beginning of July.

“Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE: LUV) today announces a new, multi-year sponsorship agreement with the Southeastern Conference (SEC) and SEC Network to be the ‘Official Airline of the SEC'” the release said. “The deal—officially launched on July 1—will primarily highlight the athletic contributions to SEC football, men’s and women’s basketball, baseball, softball, gymnastics, and women’s soccer.”

Both sides of the new partnership shared statements as part of the release today.

“Southwest Airlines is proud to be joining the SEC roster as the airline of choice and getting sports fanatics to their favorite games with ease,” said Jennifer Bridie, Southwest’s VP of Marketing Communications & Strategy. “SEC fans have been flying with us for decades, checking two free bags of gear, rescheduling road games without fees, and saving flight credits for the year their team finally makes it to the championship. With this unique sponsorship, we’re giving fans more flexibility to join the action as they root for their favorite teams and bringing them new opportunities throughout the season to get to know the Southwest Brand even better.”

“The SEC is pleased Southwest Airlines has joined our official sponsor program,” commissioner Greg Sankey said. “The SEC sponsor program is important to the mission of supporting our now 16 institutions and Southwest Airlines makes stronger an already robust family of sponsors for the Conference. We look forward to Southwest Airlines’ participation in our programming and championship events.”