LIV Golf (Saudi PIF), "Mergers," and More

[Elmer]

14 hours ago, chspeed said:

Ugh. Just what we need. In what universe is this an important enough topic for Congress to get involved? I want my money back.

I agree that there are far more important issues for them to work on.

However there is a reason they have committees, and if there is going to be money flowing as a part of the merger and they are going charge spectators and broadcast on TV networks, a closer look by non-partisan hacks (hopefully), is not a bad thing.
Not to mention congress can then refer their finding to DOJ and request an investigation. Which of course the DOJ does not blindly follow the referral, but sometimes.

[TourSpoon]

Not to oversimplify this but PIF has a seat at the table and now has some influence. I am not sure if they will exert much influence, but they do have it because of the purse strings. The question I ask is have they accomplished their goals of becoming part of the world professional golf stage? Absolutely. Do they really want to be involved in the day-to-day? Not so much. As long as everything lines up and advances their goals they should be happy being in the background and in the Board Room. 

[iacas]

LIV Golf and Phil Mickelson's team sued, accused of trademark infringement | Golf News and Tour Information | GolfDigest.com

 

[GolfLug]

13 minutes ago, iacas said:

LIV Golf and Phil Mickelson's team sued, accused of trademark infringement | Golf News and Tour Information | GolfDigest.com

 

Damn. Heh heh. I guess the higher you fly, more the arrows that come at you.

[Elmer]

26 minutes ago, iacas said:

LIV Golf and Phil Mickelson's team sued, accused of trademark infringement | Golf News and Tour Information | GolfDigest.com

 

with all the money and resources which money bring with it, how did they not know?????

 

[turtleback]

2 hours ago, TourSpoon said:

Not to oversimplify this but PIF has a seat at the table and now has some influence. I am not sure if they will exert much influence, but they do have it because of the purse strings. 

The Golden Rule.  He who has the Gold makes the Rules.

Unexercised power is a rarety.

[iacas]

10 minutes ago, Elmer said:

with all the money and resources which money bring with it, how did they not know?????

 

It’s difficult to find images and logos. I’ve never heard of Fallen Footwear.

[nevets88]

This article is from last week, but provides a backgrounder on Yasir Al-Rumayyan. It's a gift link, so you don't need to be subbed to WaPo to read it. Below it is an interview if you want to get a feel for him in person.

Yasir Al-Rumayyan poised to be king of golf under PGA Tour-LIV deal - The Washington Post

---

The PGA Tour’s Saudi disrupter loves the game and is fiercely loyal to Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.

I'm trying to draw parallels to the Newcastle United purchase, not as familiar with football. That was like a half a billion dollar deal not sure exactly how much and Boris Johnson's cabinet whisked that through

A Senator Explains Why He Is Now Using All the Powers He Has to Investigate Golf

---

“We have the power to subpoena; I see no reason why we wouldn’t use it if they just stonewall us.”

I took a gander at Golfwrx to see what its members had to say, surprisingly few posts. Maybe they're more like, meh.

[mdl]

One benefit of golf being for backwards old white guys is that the Senate might disallow the PIF takeover 😆

US Senate opens investigation into new partnership between PGA Tour and LIV Golf | CNN

---

The US Senate opened an investigation into the proposed partnership between the PGA Tour and LIV Golf’s owners, the Saudi Arabian Public...

 

[snapfade]

Why wait till now to sue for logo copyright infringement? Who here had to Google Fallen Footwear?

[Elmer]

42 minutes ago, iacas said:

It’s difficult to find images and logos. I’ve never heard of Fallen Footwear.

 

8 minutes ago, snapfade said:

Why wait till now to sue for logo copyright infringement? Who here had to Google Fallen Footwear?

Does not matter if you had to google it, or you knew about it.
The company has been around and using the logo since 2003.
you would think that LIV and Mickelson would have had lawyers or someone look into it before using the logo.
Now they will need to settle. 
I know this is meaningless and insignificant for the SA slushfund, but could have been avoided. 

[nevets88]

What happens if this agreement falls apart? LIV goes on, PGAT runs out of money? Then what.

[mcanadiens]

36 minutes ago, Elmer said:

you would think that LIV and Mickelson would have had lawyers or someone look into it before using the logo.
Now they will need to settle. 

Sloppy work to be sure.

This is usually the kind of thing some mom & pop operation gets stomped on for. The big boys usually hire the specialists to make sure they are in the clear.

[Elmer]

35 minutes ago, nevets88 said:

What happens if this agreement falls apart? LIV goes on, PGAT runs out of money? Then what.

LIV will be well funded, yet still have a dull-boring product.
PGAT would have to adjust their purses based on cash flow and budget. 

 

1 minute ago, mcanadiens said:

Sloppy work to be sure.

This is usually the kind of thing some mom & pop operation gets stomped on for. The big boys usually hire the specialists to make sure they are in the clear.

Seems LIV is funded like they are the "big boys" but operate like bush league!

[iacas]

2 hours ago, snapfade said:

Why wait till now to sue for logo copyright infringement? Who here had to Google Fallen Footwear?

 Perhaps so they could argue that they're owed $.

1 hour ago, Elmer said:

Does not matter if you had to google it, or you knew about it.
The company has been around and using the logo since 2003.

What did I say that prompted this type of response? I'm curious because it's not like I said they were off the hook or something.

1 hour ago, Elmer said:

you would think that LIV and Mickelson would have had lawyers or someone look into it before using the logo.
Now they will need to settle. 

As I said, sometimes it's tough to find a logo. It's not as easily searchable as a word mark. And for all we know they searched extensively for "HF" logos… but didn't consider that it might be "FF".

So, I could see how they missed the FF company.

But, now that they know, they should cease using it, or license it, or whatever.

We've had to fight copyright or trademark infringement, too. It generally starts with a cease and desist.

[StuM]

36 minutes ago, iacas said:

2 hours ago, Elmer said:

Does not matter if you had to google it, or you knew about it.
The company has been around and using the logo since 2003.

What did I say that prompted this type of response? I'm curious because it's not like I said they were off the hook or something.

I think he was in reference to a comment from  @snapfade 

[turtleback]

3 hours ago, iacas said:

It’s difficult to find images and logos. I’ve never heard of Fallen Footwear.

That's because your expertise is teaching and coaching golf and running this board.  There are people whose job it is to vet logos and they missed it. It happens.* 

But then when the logo-holder told them they were infringing they tried to just blow them off.  It wouldn't surprise me if that ups the financial ante for infringement.

I confess to finding it excessively amusing that of all the LIV teams this happened to Phil's.

Someone asked why they waited a year to raise the issue.  I'd guess that they were unaware, previously.  Maybe most people have heard of LIV and have heard of Phil, but I doubt that anyone other than a very seriously devoted LIV fan would have a clue about what Phil's team's logo was.  People say they never heard of Fallen Footwear before, but I would ask them if they knew what Phil's team's logo was before this came up.

So I agree with you that they will have to change the logo or pay to license it.

*It's a little different, but the Washington NFL team picked a name that it turned out they couldn't trademark.  And I remember your experience with your trademark or logo being infringed.

 

Edited June 13, 2023 by turtleback

[StuM]

3 hours ago, Elmer said:

with all the money and resources which money bring with it, how did they not know?????

 

All I will say is these are very very similar and I would find it hard to belive that two unrelated people came up with such similar designs totally independent of each other.  But, if they did happen to come up with it purely by coincidence once served the cease & desisit order they should have stopped using it.