Global football superstar Cristiano Ronaldo is
also known to fans by the shorthand CR7,
prompting the company behind his line of
sleek underwear to target a Rhode Island
man who has trademarked the letter-number
combination, according to a new lawsuit.
In a complaint filed Monday in Rhode Island
federal court, 43-year-old fitness enthusiast
Christopher Renzi said he had received
letters from lawyers for the Danish company
JBS Textile Group demanding he give up the
trademark because it had “imminent plans”
to enter the U.S. market with Ronaldo’s CR7
underwear.
JBS has also asked the U.S. Patent and
Trademark Office to cancel Renzi’s
trademark, according to court documents.
Renzi is seeking the court’s declaration that
he owns the trademark.
“We just want them to leave us alone,” said
Renzi’s attorney Michael Feldhuhn.
Attorneys for JBS could not be reached for
comment.
Renzi registered the moniker in 2009 and has
put it on jeans and T-shirts, Feldhuhn said.
He also has a website advertising a seven-
minute fitness workout, also under the CR7
name.
According to the complaint, Renzi adopted
the mark based on his initials and the day he
was born, October 7.
Court materials showed that JBS, which said
it holds the “exclusive, worldwide license” to
market Ronaldo’s CR7 underwear, believed
Renzi trademarked CR7 specifically to profit
from Ronaldo’s soaring fame.
CR7 was “so closely tied to the fame and
reputation of Cristiano Ronaldo, that a
connection with the soccer player would
immediately be presumed by the general
public when encountering” Renzi’s branded
clothes, said JBS’s filing with the Trademark
Trial and Appeal Board.
The 29-year-old Ronaldo, who plays for the
Spanish club Real Madrid, is one of the most
highly paid and recognizable athletes in the
world. He has marketing deals with
numerous major companies. His Facebook
page has more than 93 million “likes.”
One of his latest postings shows a behind-
the-scenes underwear photo shoot for a CR7
campaign launching “next week.”
Besides underwear, his brand is already
expanding into shirts and shoes.
Ronaldo is a more famous user of CR7,
Feldhuhn said, “but it’s really based on who’s
using it first. We can show we were the first
use of the CR7 name in commerce in
America.”
Feldhuhn added, “They don’t really have the
trademark rights because they haven’t used
it.”
