Present at EuroBasket with his selection, Luka Doncic does not forget his business. Wishing to take full possession of the rights attached to his brand and his name, the leader might start a legal conflict with his… mother.
It seems a long time ago when Luka Doncic and his mother, Mirjam Poterbin, posed smiling on the evening of the Draft. More than four years later, the harmony seems to have disappeared between the star of the Mavs and his daronne. Why is that ? As often in family problems, money is never far away. At the beginning of this story told by Marc Stein from New York Times, there is the young rookie Luka Doncic, 19, freshly drafted by the Mavs in 2018. When he arrived in the NBA, the ex-Real Madrid nugget gave his consent for his mother to register his full name as what brand. The “LUKA DONCIC 7” trademark was registered on November 28, 2018 by Mirjam Poterbin, who therefore became its full manager (see below).
And then time passes, the young Luka begins to tell himself that he would like to take control of his brand. If his lawyers are to be believed, Doncic then made several attempts to have the rights to the trademark registered in 2018 transferred to him. Without success. Prior to the start of the 2021-22 season, the player attempted to register a new ‘Luka Doncic’ trademark with a freshly drawn new logo. Failed… The United States Patent and Trademark Office refused, given the excessive resemblance to the trademark “Luka Doncic 7” which is owned by his mother who runs the company, in association with a certain Boris Požeg.
Without the possibility of controlling his own brand or registering a new one, the prodigy therefore found himself in an impasse which left only one option on the program: to go into conflict on the legal level. This is why Doncic filed a request on Tuesday to cancel the registration of the Luka Doncic 7 trademark, which would allow him to be able to file one in his own name in the process. Marc Stein gives us the comments of the multiple All-Star concerning this affair.
“There are a lot of things I’m looking forward to while I continue to grow as a player and as a person and controlling my own brand is important to me. »
The case is therefore well advanced and, while waiting to know the position of the opposing party, it might therefore be that American justice has to decide between mother and son. The kind of case that can upset anyone, and the player would probably have done well without such a conflict when he is only three games away from a second EuroBasket title, following that of 2017. Can this story disturb the prodigy when he is on the ground? For Rasho Nesterović, secretary general of the Slovenian Basketball Federation and former NBA player, there is no need to worry too much. Words always relayed by Marc Stein.
“I have known Luka and his family for a very long time. Luka continues to be a smart young businessman, he just makes sure he has full control over his brand. But he is 100% focused on this EuroBasket. He is a real competitor and his top priority is to lead his national team. »
Luka Doncic’s family has seen better days and it’s the courts that might soon take hold of this mother/son dispute. This promises for the next family meals!
Source texte : Marc Stein / New York Times
