The New York Knicks have threatened to take legal action against Zohran Mamdani after the politician used a modified version of the Knicks logo in campaign advertisements on Wednesday, according to several American news outlets.
Representatives of the basketball team issued a cease-and-desist letter to Mamdani, a democratic socialist currently running for New York City mayor, on Friday.
The New York Post reported that Knicks representatives suspected that the ad was likely intended to “mislead the public into believing that the Campaign is affiliated with, sponsored or endorsed by, or in some way connected with the Knicks.”
Possible copyright infringement
Mamdani’s modified logo featured the same orange and blue basketball as the Knicks’ copyrighted one, with the only difference being that Mamdani’s first name, ‘Zohran’, replaced the team’s name.
“The Knicks want to make it clear that we do not endorse Mr. Mamdani for Mayor, and we object to his use of our copyrighted logo,” a spokesman for the Knicks said in a statement, according to several reports. “We will pursue all legal remedies to enforce our rights.”
Mamdani’s campaign spokesperson, Dora Pekec, addressed the basketball team’s threat, according to Bloomberg. “While the Knicks might not be able to publicly support our campaign, we’re proud to publicly support our NY Knicks,” the news outlet quoted Pekec as saying, adding that adjustments will be made to the advertisement.