Roger Federer has left Nike but they still own his RF logo
It was confirmed on Monday that Federer, 36, has ditched Nike to sign a 10-year deal with Japanese sportswear giants UNIQLO.
The new contract earns him £22.5million-a-year - nearly three times the £7.5m deal he had with Nike.
However, Nike still own the RF logo and the rights have not been transferred to Federer - despite the player's public pleas for it to happen.
It's likely UNIQLO will have to pay a huge fee to Nike to get the logo themselves but the situation could drag on for months.
Although Jacqueline Pang, the trade mark attorney at specialist IP law firm Mewburn Ellis, believes Nike are playing a risky game.
"Nike has a potentially difficult PR path to navigate: retaining legal control of the RF brand may be a Pyrrhic victory if it means alienating Federer’s passionate and loyal fanbase on whom the value of the brand presumably rests," Pang said.
“As always, much will depend on the contract between Nike and Roger Federer, and whether and to what extent provision was made for such an eventuality.