Nike’s trademark filing for Los Angeles Lakers’ guard Bronny James’ “B9” logo has been refused due to a “likelihood of confusion” with another mark registered earlier, according to United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) documents cited by ESPN.

Examining attorney P. Scott Craven deemed the logo too similar to the “B9” logo created by Back9 Golf Apparel, a company out of Austin, Texas. The two “B9” markings were both filed for clothing and apparel usage, ESPN said.

In February, Nike applied for the “B9” logo, which comes with a lowercase “b” in gothic lettering with the number “9” in the middle. James has already been seen several times with the logo this season. Nike posted images of the shoes featuring the logo on April 12.

Back9’s “B9” logo features a black background with “B9” that seems to be overlapping each other in a racing font, ESPN reported. The brand started using the mark in 2020, filed for the trademark in 2021, and had it officially registered in 2022.

“The marks are similar in appearance, sound and commercial impression,” Craven wrote in his refusal letter to Nike. “In addition, the marks are essentially phonetic equivalents and, thus, sound similar.”

Nike is yet to comment on the situation, but has three months to appeal the ruling and state why the company believes the marks of both brands shouldn’t be a problem.

“Nike, do they have a 50-50 shot of that kind of argument, being that the designs are so unique that these are not going to get confused in the marketplace? These are very distinct logos, so they do have that going for them,” said trademark attorney Josh Gerben of Gerben IP. “I think it gives them an argument to make, but it is a little bit of an uphill battle here, I think.”

Gerben said Nike could also contact Back9 and ask the brand to approve Nike’s usage of the mark. If Back9 agreed, Gerben said the USPTO could subsequently grant Nike’s registration.

“The refusal makes sense,” Gerben said. “This is not out of left field. Technically, this is a sound refusal by the government. Nike has got its work cut out for them to work around it.”

James has three other approved trademarks — “Bronny,” “Bronald” and the signature of “B J Jr.” He applied for them in 2022 using a different trademark company.