Cool Brands Supply, an Argentine apparel company, filed a lawsuit against LIV Golf and Phil Mickelson's HyFlyers GC claiming copyright infringement over the use of the team's logo.
The lawsuit highlights the similarities between the HyFlyers logo and the one used by Cool Brands Supply, which has been in business since 2003, and says LIV Golf has ignored previous attempts at contact.
"The similarities between the two marks, particularly when used on clothing, are striking, and are confusing consumers and causing damage to Plaintiff's senior mark and brand," Cool Brands Supply's attorneys wrote in the lawsuit, per Mark Schlabach of ESPN. "Plaintiff previously demanded that Defendants cease use of their infringing logo, and they refused."
The logo in question debuted in February as part of a rebrand for the HyFlyers. Mickelson wore the logo on his hat and apparel at the Masters Tournament and PGA Tour.
The HyFlyers include James Piot, Brendan Steele and Cameron Tringale in addition to Mickelson.
The lawsuit comes just a week after LIV Golf and the PGA Tour announced a merger that shook the golf world. LIV and the Tour had been engaged in a public war of words over golf supremacy and were battling in the courtroom as well, making the announcement of a merger a total shock—even to the sport's most high-profile players.
While a copyright lawsuit is not the type of massive-scale issue that would hurt the chances of the merger moving forward, the timing of the litigation is at least noteworthy.
LIV Golf's 2023 schedule resumes in July.
