City reaches settlement in sponsorship lawsuit

Manchester City has reached a settlement with Superdry over the fashion retailer’s claims that a sponsorship deal the football club reached with Japanese brewer Asahi’s Super Dry beer brand infringed its trademark rights.

 A trial at the High Court in London had been scheduled to begin on Tuesday, but the case was discontinued after the parties reached a deal to drop the proceedings, according to Superdry and Asahi. Terms of the settlement were not disclosed.

Superdry filed its legal claim just over a year ago calling for Manchester City, the reigning English champions and one of the world’s richest clubs, to stop showing the beer brand on its sportswear. Lawyers for the retailer argued that the use of the logo was “liable to deceive” members of the public into believing that the training kit was designed or sold by Superdry.

 City announced Asahi’s Super Dry 0.0%, a non-alcoholic beer, as its official training kit partner in 2023, and the brand featured on the front of all men’s and women’s first-team training strips. Asahi also sponsors City’s “Tunnel Club”, a premium hospitality lounge with tickets for big matches priced at more than £2,000 per person.

This season’s training gear still features the Asahi 0.0% logo, but no longer carries the words Super Dry. The action made City’s training shirts the latest battleground in a trademark dispute between the British clothing chain and Japan’s top selling beer brand that has been rumbling for more than 20 years.

 In 2003, Asahi tried and failed to block Superdry from registering its trademark. In its lawsuit, Superdry said Manchester City’s use of the Super Dry brand “takes unfair advantage of or causes detriment to the distinctive character or the repute” of its trademark.

Superdry said according to the Financial Times that “the parties have reached a mutual settlement to resolve the dispute” but that the terms were “confidential”. Asahi also confirmed that an agreement had been reached this week. Manchester City declined to comment. In its defence to the lawsuit, the English club’s City Football Group parent company said it had not infringed Superdry’s trademarks, nor threatened to do so.