Knicks Sue New York Senate Candidate Over Logo Use
Knicks Sue New York Senate Candidate Over Logo Use
The New York Knicks have issued a cease-and-desist letter to Aber Kawas, the Democratic nominee for New York’s Senate District 12, demanding she remove campaign stickers that adapted the team’s trademarked logo to read “Kawas” in place of the club’s name. Madison Square Garden Sports senior vice president and head of legal Brian N. Warner wrote in the letter, as reported by the New York Post, that neither the Knicks nor NBA Properties had authorized the use of team intellectual property and that the materials were “likely to mislead the public into believing that the Campaign is affiliated with, sponsored or endorsed by, or in some way connected with the Knicks.” Warner’s letter cited trademark infringement, trademark dilution, false advertising, false association, and unfair competition.
The episode is the third time the Knicks have taken such action over their branding in less than a year. During his mayoral campaign, New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani – who has publicly backed Kawas – received an identical cease-and-desist after his campaign used the logo in comparable fashion. The Knicks issued a public statement at that time making clear they were not endorsing any candidate in that race. Shortly after Mamdani won the mayoral election, the White House used the Knicks logo in a social media post declaring “Trump Is Your President”; the Knicks contacted the White House, which removed the post.
The logo dispute forms one strand of a broader tension between the Knicks franchise and Mamdani. Knicks owner James Dolan and the mayor traded public criticism earlier this summer over watch parties during the team’s championship run. The two appeared at the same championship celebration at City Hall, where Mamdani referenced Charles Oakley – a former Knicks player and long-standing adversary of Dolan – during his remarks, and Dolan declined to pose with the mayor for a photograph. Dolan subsequently confirmed the Knicks would visit President Donald Trump at the White House, a trip that would make them the first NBA team to do so.
Kawas, a community organizer and democratic socialist who won the District 12 Democratic nomination, has not publicly addressed the cease-and-desist. The letter’s demand that all materials incorporating Knicks intellectual property be immediately removed leaves her campaign facing a decision on compliance ahead of the general election contest for the seat.
