Nike’s trademark application for Los Angeles Lakers point guard Bronny James’s “B9” logo, the son of Lakers forward LeBron James, has been denied, according to ESPN. The application was denied because of a “likelihood of confusion.”
The United States Patent and Trademark Office refused the application because examining attorney P. Scott Craven deemed the logo too similar to the “B9” logo created by Back9 Golf Apparel. Per ESPN, Back9 began using its logo, which has a black background with “B9” somewhat overlapping one another, in 2020, filed for the trademark in 2021, and had it officially registered in 2022.
Nike applied for the trademark in February, with its logo featuring a lowercase “b” in gothic lettering with the number “9” in the middle.
LeBron IX Witness PER for Bronny inspired by his recovery and journey back to the court. pic.twitter.com/NyR1VzgwKA
— Nike Basketball (@nikebasketball) April 12, 2026
“The marks are similar in appearance, sound and commercial impression,” Craven wrote, explaining his refusal to Nike. “In addition, the marks are essentially phonetic equivalents and, thus, sound similar.”
Nike has three months ot appeal the decision.
“Nike, do they have a 50-50 shot of that kind of argument, being that the designs are so unique that these are not going to get confused in the marketplace? These are very distinct logos, so they do have that going for them,” trademark attorney Josh Gerben of Gerben IP, said.
“I think it gives them an argument to make, but it is a little bit of an uphill battle here, I think.”
“The refusal makes sense,” Gerben said. “This is not out of left field. Technically, this is a sound refusal by the government. Nike has got its work cut out for them to work around it.”
About Qwame Skinner
Qwame Skinner has loved both writing and sports his entire life. In addition to his sports coverage at Comeback Media, Qwame writes novels, and his debut; The First Casualty, an adult fantasy, is out now.