(AllHipHop News) Kanye West is facing a legal battle with a Chinese company over the rights to sell clothing using his Yeezy brand.
The rapper has owned the trademark to his Yeezy footwear brand since 2013 but lost the official rights to sell Yeezy clothing last year.
He has since filed documents with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office to reclaim the mark for use selling apparel, but has run into trouble as a Chinese firm named Fujian Baby Network Technology Co. swooped in and trademarked the term ‘Yeezy Boost’, the name of the shoes the hip-hop star designs for Adidas, as a clothing brand.
A letter from Trademark Office officials to bosses at Kanye’s Mascotte Holdings company states that they have suspended his application due to the “likelihood of confusion” with the Yeezy Boost brand.
Kanye’s application, which was filed last August, two months after the Chinese company’s, states that he is looking to sell everything from T-shirts and blazers to babywear and hosiery using the Yeezy name.
The rapper, 40, launched his first Yeezy clothing collection, in collaboration with Adidas Originals in 2015, and is currently preparing to debut his seventh season of apparel.
The potential battle over the rights to his brand isn’t the only legal fight Kanye is facing, as bosses at his company Yeezy Apparel have been accused of copying a camouflage design from a rival firm.
Bosses at Jordan Outdoor Enterprises claim a representative from the company contacted them and asked to use their Realtree line design, but that the pattern was allegedly copied without their permission.
They are seeking unspecified damages and an order to stop Kanye selling existing merchandise bearing the design.
