Ralph Lauren vs. Polo
Polo is the name of a sport, a magazine dedicated to that sport and Ralph Lauren's preppy, high-end-casual line designed to allude to that sport. Polo Ralph Lauren and Polo, the official publication of the U.S. Polo Association, peacefully co-existed for 22 years until 1997, when the magazine decided to focus more on the élite, polo-playing lifestyle and less on the equestrian sport. Worried that Polo was hijacking the same type of image projected by his clothing, Ralph Lauren sued Polo's Texas-based publisher, claiming that the magazine had no right to use the word Polo. In 1999, a Dallas court ruled in favor of the luxury designer and the magazine ceased publication. But the ruling was reversed upon appeal in 2001 and Polo came back to life — with a small disclaimer, stating that it was "not affiliated with Polo Ralph Lauren."