GET DAILY REPORT FREE
The legal battle between Baton Rouge tech startup Tigeraire and apparel brand Sun Day Red by Tiger Woods is now in the hands of a federal appeals court.
The dispute is over trademark infringement. Last year, Tigeraire alleged that Sun Day Red launched with a logo “nearly identical” to its own and sought to block the brand’s trademark application. Sun Day Red then filed a federal lawsuit against Tigeraire in California asking the court to declare that it is not infringing the company’s trademark. Read more about the dispute here.
The U.S. District Court for the Central District of California, where the case was initially filed, agreed with Tigeraire on Feb. 14 that legal questions around jurisdiction were complex enough to merit appellate review.
And on March 28, the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals granted Tigeraire’s petition to pursue an appeal over the issue of jurisdiction. At stake is whether California is the proper venue for Sun Day Red’s lawsuit.
The appeals court has also approved Tigeraire’s request to file a reply brief, signaling that the court is taking seriously the company’s argument that it should not be forced to defend itself in California when it is headquartered in Louisiana and did not initiate the case.
If the appeals court sides with Tigeraire, the California case could be dismissed entirely or Sun Day Red could be required to refile in a different state, potentially Louisiana.
Founded in 2020, Tigeraire is best known for its Air Accelerator technology that creates airflow for personal cooling devices in athletic and industrial settings. Using that technology, the company developed a helmet for LSU’s football program—the Tigeraire Cyclone—to improve player comfortability and performance.
