NFL stars Travis Kelce and Patrick Mahomes, owners of the 1587 Prime steakhouse based in Kansas City, have recently found themselves in hot water following a trade mark infringement claim from American footwear company 1587 Sneakers Inc.
The NFL duo filed a trade mark application in August 2023 for the word mark ‘1587 PRIME’, which the footwear company claims to infringe upon their unregistered trade mark rights following the launch of their own brand in April 2023. However, 1587 Sneakers did not file a trade mark application until October 2025, with aggregators stating this may have an impact on the merits of a substantive claim. Furthermore, the respective trade marks have been applied for in unrelated classes for unrelated goods, though 1587 Sneakers is also relying on 1587 Prime’s merchandising trade of clothing to bolster its claim.
If this claim was issued in the UK, it would be difficult to prove trade mark infringement given that 1587 Sneakers does not currently own a registered trade mark, it is simply under examination. As such, no registered rights subsist and their claim would fail on this front. However, where 1587 Sneakers would have alleged passing off then the footwear company may have relied on their earlier trade to prove goodwill, misrepresentation and damage in a passing off claim. Given that this claim is based in the US, 1587 Sneakers will instead have to prove that there has been a likelihood of confusion from customers.
While it is unsure at this stage whether 1587 Sneakers’ claim will have substantive effects on 1587 Prime’s trade mark application, where this claim develops to a trial it will be interesting to view the Court’s assessment of 1587 Sneakers’ evidence in support of their claim.
If you have any questions on the above, or if you need any advice or support in respect of your own Intellectual Property, please do not hesitate to contact the team at McDaniels Law on 0191 281 4000 or legal@mcdanielslaw.com.
