New York City F.C. were set to reveal two crests on Monday for fan voting.
Instead, the soon-to-be 20th MLS franchise stood conspicuously quiet.
As it turns out, plans for their badge reveal hit an unexpected snag. EOS has learned that some in-house legal trouble has delayed the team’s long-awaited campaign. Of the two badges set to be presented to the general public, one failed to get final approval from the Yankee side of the NYCFC ownership due to “infringement of the baseball team’s intellectual property.”
The badges have been designed by two separate sources; one, an outside designer, and the second, an in-house team. Interestingly enough, it was the in-house design that sent up red flags at Yankee legal. Sources tell us the badge in question fell too close to the trademark design of the Yankee’s image, but would not give further detail as to the design flaw itself. The other badge, described as a more “classic” offering, has passed the initial consent of both owners.
A quick search through the U.S. trademark database reveals two possible infringements. The first could be the iconic intertwined NY logo of the team itself, but the second, and perhaps more probable, is the Yankee script font. Of course, there could be other issues that would be looked upon as borderline infringement, such as the use of pinstripes, but that is just conjecture at this point.
League sources tell us NYCFC is looking to correct the issue in short time so that they may continue with their original plans. They had previously set forth a reveal for this week with the winning design to be unveiled at a gala event scheduled sometime during the week of the 10th.
How long it will take for them to make their way past this latest hurdle is anyone’s guess.
Archived content originally from EmpireOfSoccer.com by Dave Martinez
