Fashion giant Hugo Boss takes aim at Regina cheerleading group over copyright claim

Regina based cheerleading, dance, and tumbling organization, BOSS Athletics INC. has once again been put to the test over its name after fashion mogul Hugo Boss had their Instagram shut down over copyright claims.

This is not the first time the local cheerleading organization has dealt with this company as they say it has been a battle since they opened in 2018.

Carley Weisbeck, co-owner of BOSS Athletics, said in 2019, they applied for a trademark for their logo specifically to use on their clothing for families to wear to support their athletes.

“The trademark process is quite lengthy and with COVID, it took awhile to hear back from them. We got a letter back saying, ‘We’ve gotten your trademark application and now here are the different businesses within Canada that have Boss within their name,” she said.

“One of the names listed was Hugo Boss so we had to write to the trademark office [explaining] why we are different and from there, they agreed and moved forward with the application but it goes into a dispute process.”

Weisbeck said Hugo Boss immediately disputed their application and even received a cease and desist from the company. They went on to contact a lawyer that specializes in copyright and trademarks in Regina. Hugo Boss had a list of demands for the local cheer company, which included rebranding completely.

Weisbeck said they didn’t agree with rebranding so they worked with their lawyers to come up with an amicable solution.

“We’ve made some small changes to our logo. We never write the word ‘boss’ without a fist for the ‘O.’ We also write ‘Cheer Athletics’ after it so that we’re differentiated and not confusing to consumers, even though we don’t believe we were in the first place. We did it so we could get them off our backs,” she explained.

She also added the logo has mainly changed to ‘BA’ in abbreviation for BOSS Athletics on their gear.

From there, the cheer gym had their lawyer present the changes to Hugo Boss and claimed they never heard anything back for a long time. However, recently their Instagram account was reported by the company and eventually deactivated.

“Honestly, it’s so frustrating. I remember the moment a couple weeks ago Carly and I were coaching and my phone was blowing up and I take a look at it and we have all these e-mails from Instagram ‘Warning! Warning! Warning!’ and I look and it’s Hugo Boss and immediately my heart just sank,” said fellow co-owner Sienna Borland.

“I thought this was done and thought it was over. We haven’t heard from them in so long. We made all these changes that quite frankly, we didn’t think we had to make but we did just to appease them so we could focus our energy on our kids and our business.”

Borland says it’s not just about losing the Instagram but the work they have put into the gym and company over the years and the stress of a giant corporation coming after them.

“It’s really stressful having to deal with this giant corporation that essentially is watching your every move and going back years into your Instagram and trying to find things to take down and all of our media and the memories that we’ve built over the years,” Borland said.

“It’s disheartening, upsetting, infuriating, and we just can’t seem to understand it. It just doesn’t make sense to us in any way shape or form how we’re confusing with Hugo Boss whatsoever.”

However, according to Reagan Seidler, a registered trademark agent and intellectual property lawyer and researcher, this is exactly why big companies trademark their name and logos.

“Anyone who gets into that sphere of putting ‘Boss’ or a word similar to Boss on clothing, they’re going to run into trouble and should know better frankly. There is an online database of registered trademarks and it’s a lesson that business always need to check the database before using a new logo or expanding their brand into a new market,” he explained.

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“Even when a small business is not a competitor, their use of another’s mark can still do harm in the marketplace because it diminishes the value of that brand. Even where it seems harsh, trademark owners do have a duty to prevent unauthorized use of their mark. So if a brand owner does not address small scale actors of infringement, it does make it harder from a legal standpoint to stop serious problems down the road like counterfeiters,” he added.

For now, BOSS Athletics Inc. has taken the steps to try to appeal Instagram’s decision of shutting down their account known as @bosscheerathletics and created a new account under @bosscheeranddance.

Both Borland and Weisbeck say they hold out hope their account might get reactivated but have little hope at this point.

“I want Hugo Boss to leave small business like us alone who are genuinely trying to do good within our communities for our athletes, our kids. Like we do this for the kids, for the youth, for the sport. We hope they will stop taking their big name and hanging it over everyone’s heads trying to bully people out of doing their own passions,” said Borland.

“We felt we were being reasonable. We were willing to kind of play ball with them to make sure everyone was happy on both ends. We’re not looking to spend any more of our time and energy on a lawsuit,” Weisbeck added. “Our priority has been and always will be the children that we coach at this gym.”

In an email to CTV News, Hugo Boss said it has never opposed the existence of the cheerleading club’s Instagram account or asked for the account to be deleted.

“Hugo Boss approached the Cheerleading Club via an outside attorney when applying for the BOSS Athletics trademark in 2021. Our reason was to protect our trademark rights and prevent any possible misunderstandings, especially in regard to the clothing category, which the Club also applied for,” the email said.

Hugo Boss said over the past number of years both parties have worked via legal representatives to find a solution that would not affect the club’s activities while at the same time not violate the Boss trademark rights.

Hugo Boss also said that trademark laws require brands to monitor their marks and take action against any possible violations.