All corporations are protective of their trademarked images, and Major League Baseball is currently bumping heads with the Overwatch League over its logo.
MLB argues the Overwatch League, an esports league for the video game "Overwatch," uses a logo that is a little too similar to the classic MLB logo. Here are the logos side by side:
The MLB apparently thinks the 'Overwatch' League logo is too similar to its own https://t.co/mywHWJwn0J pic.twitter.com/JTgu1jcaiS
— Mashable (@mashable) July 17, 2017
Both rectangular logos have a a two-tone background with a white figure in the middle, plus rounded edges, but the similarities end there. You've got blue and red against black and yellow, plus the white figure looks nothing alike.
Kellen Beck of Mashable has more on MLB's issues with the Overwatch League logo:
After Blizzard Entertainment submitted their application to trademark the Overwatch League logo — Blizzard's premiere Overwatch esports league kicking off later this year — MLB filed a request to the United States Patent and Trademark Office's Trademark Trial and Appeal Board for an extension of 90 days to oppose the trademark, according to a blog post on the Morrison / Lee law firm's website.
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In the next 90 days, the MLB will investigate the trademark claim and confer with counsel about whether they will oppose it.
I know this seems like big bad MLB picking on the little Overwatch League, but MLB has to protect itself. They don't want people to see the Overwatch League logo and think there's some affiliation to MLB, or risk having the logo diluted. It sounds silly, but that's the argument. Remember, the Cubs got into a legal dispute over the letter W.