Josh Gerben Analyzes the Refusal of Nike and Bronny James’ ‘B9’ Logo for ESPN

The USPTO refused Nike’s trademark application for Bronny James’ ‘B9’ logo, because there is a “likelihood of confusion” with a ‘B9’ trademark that is already registered.

Josh Gerben explains how Nike and Bronny could still possibly register the trademark. 

Nike has three months to appeal the refusal and explain why the trademarks are different enough to coexist on the federal register.

“Nike, do they have a 50-50 shot of that kind of argument, being that the designs are so unique that these are not going to get confused in the marketplace? These are very distinct logos, so they do have that going for them,” said trademark attorney Josh Gerben of Gerben IP. “I think it gives them an argument to make, but it is a little bit of an uphill battle here, I think.”

Gerben, though, said the logo could be “arguably in some jeopardy at this point.”

Another path to approval would be for Nike to approach the other company and ask them to consent to Nike’s usage of the mark. If it agrees, Gerben says that the USPTO could then grant the trademark registration to Nike.

“The refusal makes sense,” Gerben said. “This is not out of left field. Technically, this is a sound refusal by the government. Nike has got its work cut out for them to work around it.”

Source: Rothstein, Michael. https://www.espn.com/. “Nike’s trademark filing for Bronny James’ ‘B9’ logo denied”. 14 April 2026.