Just days before its scheduled High Court battle with fashion retailer Superdry, Manchester City has reached a settlement over claims that its sponsorship deal with Japanese brewer Asahi’s Super Dry beer, infringed Superdry’s trademark rights.

The football club announced its partnership with Asahi ahead of the 2023/24 football season and the alcohol-free ‘Super Dry’ 0.0’ logo was printed on the team’s training apparel. In response, the clothing label Superdry, which has been trading since 2003, filed a lawsuit against the club, alleging that it would ‘benefit unfairly’ from ‘riding on the coattails of well-known Superdry registrations’. It also argued that its own brand could be ‘tarnished’ by poor quality clothing items which were reportedly manufactured by Puma and sold by City.

In response, lawyers for City argued that the average consumer would recognise that the logo was used to promote the alcohol-free lager and not the clothing brand.

It’s not the first disagreement among Asahi and Superdry. Back in 2004, Asahi tried to block Superdry from registering its trademark. However,  although Asahi held several trademarks for SUPER “DRY” in relation to beer, none extended to clothing and as a result, Superdry successfully registered its own trademark for the category.

Eagle eyed City fans may have noticed that although the current season’s training gear still features the Asahi 0.0% logo, it no longer carries the words Super Dry.

The terms of the settlement remain confidential.