When the Jets unveiled their redesigned uniforms with a throwback logo in April, they recognized former employe Jim Pons, who designed the logo that has been brought back this year. Now Pons is saying the Jets need to pay up for using his design.
Pons designed the logo, which features an airplane design attached to the capital J in JETS, in 1978, when he worked as the team’s film and video director. The team used the logo for 20 years and is now bringing it back, but Pons has filed a lawsuit seeking unspecified damages, the cancelation of the Jets’ trademark of his logo and a ruling that the Jets can’t use the logo without his consent and compensation, according to TMZ.com.
The Jets say the logo is theirs and Pons has no claim to it.
“We are aware of the complaint,” the Jets said in a statement to the New York Post. “The mark in question has been registered with the United States Patent and Trademark Office for nearly 50 years. The mark has been used continuously in numerous iterations since that time. We find this claim baseless and without merit.”
When the Jets announced this offseason that the logo was coming back, Pons was excited, telling the team’s website, “I had no idea they were even thinking about it, nor did I know that it was that popular with the Jets fans. They told me the fans demanded we go back to the old logo, to my logo. So really, that’s wonderful. I’m very happy about that, very proud of that.”
