Walmart Feuds With Kanye West Over Yeezy Logo, Claims It'll Lead to Confusion The retail giant says his apparel brand's prospective new design is too similar to its 13-year-old logo.
By Justin Chan
Walmart has taken issue with Kanye West's latest Yeezy logo. The retail giant filed an objection with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office on April 21, asserting that his apparel brand's prospective new logo — which is described as "rays from a sun" in January 2020 trademark paperwork submitted by Yeezy — resembles Walmart's 13-year-old sun logo.
In opposing Yeezy's trademark application, Walmart said that the submitted logo could cause "confusion" and lead to a "false suggestion of a connection" between the two brands. (Yeezy currently has a sneaker-and-apparel collaboration with Adidas and also recently signed a 10-year deal to produce a line of goods for The Gap.)
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Walmart also argued that Yeezy could sow confusion by using the design for entertainment purposes, given that Walmart has already "sold products and done marketing campaigns in association with Jennifer Garner, the cast of Queer Eye, Drew Barrymore, Kendall and Kylie Jenner, Ellen DeGeneres and Sofia Vergara to name a few." It goes on to note that Yeezy "is associated with Mr. Kanye West, a recording artist, record producer, fashion designer and former candidate for President of the United States."
The New York Post attempted reached out to West's camp for comment, though they have yet to receive a reply. Walmart, meanwhile, directed the Post to an April 19 letter it had written to West's lawyers as proof that the artist has not been cooperative.
"As we referenced in our correspondence in July and August of 2020, January and February of 2021 and our telephone conference in March of 2021, Walmart has repeatedly sought to understand Yeezy's planned use of the Yeezy Application, with the goal of finding ways in which the Walmart Spark Design and the Yeezy Application can co-exist with one another," the letter stated. "However, to date, we have not received any conclusive information from Yeezy regarding the planned use or any cooperation from Yeezy in order to find common ground."
