Cristiano Ronaldo sued by American man over 'CR7' trademark

Cristiano Ronaldo officially launched his CR7 underwear line with a private event in Madrid on October 31, 2013.

An American man is suing Portugal and Real Madrid star Cristiano Ronaldo over the ‘CR7’ trademark.

Ronaldo, more popularly known as CR7, has an underwear line by the same name. But as it tries to enter the US market, it has hit a roadblock.

The reason? There’s already someone in the US with the ‘CR7’ trademark. And he is currently being hassled to give up that trademark.

Who owns the CR7 trademark?

Christopher Renzi, a 43-year-old fitness enthusiast, first trademarked the CR7 moniker in 2009. He has already used it on jeans and t-shirts, and also has a 7-minute workout under the CR7 name uploaded on his website.

He had made the trademark based on his initials (CR) and the his day of birth (October 7).

Renzi has now filed a complaint in Rhode Island federal court after JBS Textile Group lawyers sent him letters asking him to give up the trademark so that Ronaldo’s CR7 underwear can be sold in the US. It is learned that JBS even asked the US Patent and Trademark Office to cancel Renzi;s trademark.

Michael Feldhuhn, Renzi’s attorney, said: “We just want them to leave us alone,” while they sought a court’s declaration stating that he owned the trademark.

And JBS state that they hold “exclusive, worldwide license” to market the underwear line and that Renzi trademarked it to profit from Ronaldo’s fame and popularity.

Although CR7 has been associated with Ronaldo for years now, Feldhuhn added, “It’s really based on who’s using it first. We can show we were the first use of the CR7 name in commerce in America.”

“They don’t really have the trademark rights because they haven’t used it.”