Lakers Rumors: Savannah James Allegedly In Trademark Dispute With New Balance

Savannah James is attempting to launch her own fresh brand.

Los Angeles Lakers All-Star forward LeBron James's wife Savannah James is reportedly getting into the merch game. Per trademark lawyer Ozelle Martin, she has attempted to trademark a new brand, called "BLNCE," that will be used for selling a very LA mix of swag, from athletic gear to coffee to yoga mats to more Abbot Kinney-esque stuff (you'll see what we mean in a second). 

Now, Savannah James apparently will have to deal with a trademark opposition claim courtesy of New Balance, which claims that BLNCE is too similar a moniker that it could cause market confusion.

Full details are below.

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A post shared by Ozelle M. | Trademark Lawyer (@ozellemartinlaw)

"Savannah James, the wife of the NBA’s All Time Leading Scorer and Los Angeles Lakers forward, LeBron James, is currently facing a trademark opposition from New Balance over her brand 'BLNCE,' Martin writes. "James’ trademarks holding company, SRJ Trademarks, LLC filed a trademark application for 'BLNCE' on February 23, 2022, seeking to use the mark in connection with various items including athletic apparel, coffee, yoga mats, crystals, precious stones, and vitamins."

"In January 2023, New Balance filed an opposition against James' trademark application for 'BLNCE', claiming that James’ trademark 'so closely resembles their NEW BALANCE trademark that, when used in connection with the claimed goods and services in Classes 25 (clothing) and 35 (retail store), it is likely to cause confusion, mistake and/or deception in the relevant trade and public.'"

"New Balance further claims that 'consumers are likely to believe that James’ mark, BLNCE is in some way associated with, connected with, approved, sponsored or licensed by New Balance.'"

"It is important to bear in mind that the standard for determining likelihood of confusion in trademark law is a multi-factor test that includes the similarity of the marks based on their appearance, sound, meaning and overall commercial impression; the strength of the prior trademark, the relatedness of the goods or services, evidence of actual confusion, the marketing channels used, the degree of care expected of the average consumer, and the intent of the junior user. The ultimate question is whether the marks are likely to cause confusion among consumers as to the source of the goods or services." 

"Do you think that NEW BALANCE and BLNCE are confusingly similar? Do you believe that consumers will believe that Savannah James’s brand, BLNCE is associated with NEW BALANCE?"

To be clear, this report has been picked up by other outlets, including Essentially Sports, but for the time being, it's best to take this with a grain of salt, as the source is one person's Instagram page.

Whatever happens with the BLNCE brand going forward, it's exciting to see Savannah James branching out into cultivating her own merchandise interests.

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