Food manufacturing company Kellogg’s has launched legal action against Thanasi Kokkinakis over the planned use of his ‘Special K’ nickname.
The American company wants to prevent the Australian from using the nickname for commercial purposes according to their lawsuit. Special K is also the name of a healthy cereal that is produced by Kellogg’s.
“His association (with the brand) could help, but at the end of the day it’s a trademark that we own and we want to continue to own,” a Kellogg spokeswoman told Reuters.
It is understood that the company, which has a reported net value of $3.25 billion, wants to prevent Kokkinakis from using ‘Speciak K’ for an upcoming branding campaign that would include tennis clothing according to the Adelaide Advisor. His plan is to have the term assigned to his clothing in a similar way to what Roger Federer has done with his initials.
A first hearing between the two parties took place on Thursday at a federal court in Adelaide, Kokkinakis’ home town. The case has now been sent to a mediation conference in August. The decision was taken to allow Kellogg’s more time to amend their statement and for Kokkinakis’ team to file a defence.
According to the Australian Associated Press (AAP) the case will resume on August 31st, which coincides with the US Open.
There has been no formal response from the Australian, apart from a picture of an icon crying with laughter uploaded to his Twitter account.
😂
— Thanasi Kokkinakis (@TKokkinakis) 7 June 2017
Kokkinakis’ Special K trademark is owned by a company controlled by his father Trevor.
At the French Open the 21-year-old lost in the first round to Kei Nishikori in what was his first grand slam appearance since 2015. The Australian has missed a chunk of the tour in recent months due to a series of injury setbacks. At such a young age, he has already undergone Shoulder surgery, suffered abdominal pain, injured his Groin, torn an external oblique and experienced an elbow problem.
Kokkinakis has won two Challenger tournaments so far in his career and has been ranked as high as 69th in the world.
