LA Gear, the company made famous by their light-up sneakers, is reportedly putting up a fight against trademark filings for "LA Rams" and "LA Chargers," asserting that they are too similar to LA Gear because the trademarks share "LA."
ESPN's Darren Rovell reports filings with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office show that the Rams and Chargers were actually in settlement talks with LA Gear, but the Rams recently abandoned talks and earlier this month filed a formal answer to LA Gear's claim of ownership. LA Gear is still in talks on a settlement with the Chargers, according to Rovell.
"The Rams' rebuttal asserts that LA Gear can't own "LA" because it refers to the abbreviation of the city of Los Angeles. Furthermore, the Rams point out that hundreds of trademarks have been granted within the clothing goods category for the terms LA or Los Angeles," writes Rovell.
In other words, it doesn't look like LA Gear has a leg to stand on. As trademark lawyer Josh Gerben tells Rovell, "The Cleveland Browns probably have a better chance of winning the Super Bowl than LA Gear does of winning this case." The Browns have certainly improved this offseason, but it's never a good thing when your odds are being compared to Cleveland's chances of winning a Super Bowl.
The Chargers will host the Kansas City Chiefs on September 9, while the Rams open up Week 1 with a Monday night game against the Raiders in Oakland on September 10.