Nike’s seen the promise in Bronny James from the start. He first signed with them on an NIL deal before he began college at USC. That was in 2022, and now, in 2026, LeBron James‘ son already has his player-exclusive kicks. For the final game of his second NBA season, the Lakers superstar debuted a new colorway inspired by his return to the hardwood after cardiac arrest. However, the Swoosh brand’s attempt to increase the 21-year-old’s brand visibility has hit a snag.

Why did Bronny James’ logo trademark get denied?

The Los Angeles Lakers guard James had a trademark filing through Nike rejected by the United States Patent and Trademark Office. “The USPTO turned down the application because examining attorney P. Scott Craven deemed the logo too similar to the ‘B9’ logo created by Back9 Golf Apparel, a company out of Austin, Texas. Both ‘B9’ markings were filed for clothing and apparel usages.” Michael Rothstein of ESPN has reported that the USPTO ruled that there was a “likelihood of confusion” of similar logos with an already registered trademark.

“The marks are similar in appearance, sound and commercial impression,” Craven wrote in his refusal letter to Nike. “In addition, the marks are essentially phonetic equivalents and, thus, sound similar.”

Back9 started using its logo in 2020, filed for the trademark in 2021, and had it officially registered in 2022. It features an overlapping “B9” in a stylized racing font on a black background. Nike’s logo for Bronny’s brand has a lowercase “b” in gothic lettering with the number “9” in the middle.

The Los Angeles Lakers star has been with Nike since 2022 and was part of the elite student-athlete class featuring Caitlin Clark, Haley Jones, DJ Wagner, and Juju Watkins. This continues the James family’s legacy with Nike. After all, LeBron signed a lifetime deal with them in 2015 for over $1 billion. The brand revealed that Bronny James x Nike LeBron Witness 9’s latest kicks are, for now, exclusive to the 21-year-old himself. By keeping it exclusive to the player, Nike is trying to gauge the audience’s reaction and gauge its acceptability if it were to launch in the future. Fortunately, they have another legal route to pursue.

How Nike still has a chance to get Bronny James’ logo approved

For now, the Swoosh brand has declined to comment on the rejection of the logo. Similarly, ESPN reached out to Bronny James’ agents and to Back9, but the request again returned empty. Reports confirmed that Nike has 3 months to appeal the ruling and explain why both logos are sufficiently different to coexist.

“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.” Apart from appealing, Gerben stated that Nike can approach Back9 to obtain their consent to Nike’s use of the logo. If they agree, then the USPTO could grant Bronny and Nike’s request. “The refusal makes sense,” Gerben continued. “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.”

Bronny already has three other approved trademarks: “Bronny,” “Bronald” and the signature of “B J Jr.” He applied for them in 2022 with a different trademark company.

This Bronny-inspired design idea should get more visibility!

It was in January that LeBron James’ son debuted his logo on the hardwood, alongside his pink-accented Nike LeBron Witness 9 PE. LeBron’s secondary logo appears on the tongues, but his son’s branding takes center stage with his name stitched into the toe box and his signature logo on the heels. This was released to the public a month ago. And a few days ago, they launched a second colorway, very close to the 21-year-old’s heart.

Before he even debuted as a Trojan, during the summer of 2023, Bronny suffered cardiac arrest during practice. Naturally, it paused any physical activity, including hooping. “Like, I said before, like the kid, he doesn’t have to do this,” LeBron said to The Athletic. “After having the situation that he had, you think he had to really, like, work his way to get back in shape and play basketball? He could have been like ‘Man, f— this s—. Like ‘I’m gonna do anything I want.’”

Representing Bronny’s resilience and strength, the colorway features an all-over digital camo print in dusty tan tones. It consists of his signature logo, a lowercase “b” which is stylized “9,” in red on the heel. Since the first PE hit stores in less than 8 weeks, it’s possible fans will get their hands on this sneaker too. While Nike seeks to launch Bronny’s commercial career, it must first resolve the legal issue.