The Toronto Maple Leafs are reportedly fighting Snoop Dogg over his bid to trademark “Leafs by Snoop,” the rapper’s new line of pot products.
According to Canada’s The Sports Network (TSN), Snoop filed a trademark application for “Leafs By Snoop” with the U.S. Trademark and Patent Office back in November. TSN reports that his logo features the slogan in white letters “over top of a seven-leaf green plant” and that he plans to use it on products such as cigarette lighters.
This month, the NHL team’s parent company, Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment (MLSE), shot back at the musician, who has been an aggressive investor in the cannabis industry, by filing an opposition to Snoop’s logo—but the company had to ask the trademark office for more time to detail its opposition.
According to Christopher Sprigman, an intellectual properties professor at the NYU School of Law, there are several arguments that MLSE could make against the trademark, but most would be difficult to prove.
“The Maple Leafs might say that their brand has been tarnished by confusion over Snoop’s new logo,” Sprigman told TSN. “That’s quaint but a tough argument. I don’t see a lot of overlap between Colorado pot smokers and Maple Leafs fans.”
An MLSE spokesman reportedly declined to comment, while Snoop’s lawyer, Lawrence Apolzon, could not be reached by TSN.
