When Patrick Mahomes and Travis Kelce named their Kansas City steakhouse after their jersey numbers, it probably felt like a clever, personal touch. Mahomes wears No. 15. Kelce wears No. 87. Put them together and you get 1587 Prime a natural, almost poetic branding decision for two of the NFL’s biggest stars.
There’s just one problem. A sneaker company called 1587 Sneakers had already claimed that number combination, and it’s now suing both players for trademark infringement, according to court records cited . What started as a creative restaurant name has landed two Super Bowl champions in the middle of a legal dispute with a small, culturally significant brand that says the overlap is causing genuine, lasting damage.
Who is 1587 Sneakers?
This isn’t a faceless corporation throwing paperwork at celebrities for attention. 1587 Sneakers was founded by Adam King and Sam Hyun, and the name carries specific historical meaning 1587 marks the first recorded presence of Asians in America, when Filipino sailors arrived in what would become the United States. The company describes itself as the first sneaker brand in the country owned, designed, and inspired by Asian American culture. It appeared on Shark Tank and began selling shoes in April 2023.
That launch date matters enormously here. The sneaker company was in business before Kelce and Mahomes publicly announced plans to open their steakhouse, which means 1587 Sneakers can credibly argue it had first use of the number combination in commerce a foundational concept in trademark law.
What the lawsuit actually claims
The sneaker company’s core argument is straightforward: that 1587 Prime’s use of the identical number combination is causing consumer confusion and overshadowing a culturally driven small business that built its identity around those four digits. The suit requests that the steakhouse stop using the name 1587 Prime entirely and also cease selling branded merchandise the restaurant currently offers caps and a shirt on its website bearing the name.
The company is also seeking unspecified damages, and its language in the filing is pointed, describing the situation as pushing the brand toward the edge of collapse. King has publicly stated that the company continues to hope for an amicable resolution, which suggests the door to a settlement hasn’t fully closed.
Why this case is legally complicated
Here’s where it gets nuanced. Trademark attorney Josh Gerben of Gerben IP who has no stake in either side that the case isn’t as clean as the sneaker company might hope. Trademarks are category-specific, meaning two businesses can legally use similar names if they operate in sufficiently different industries without creating meaningful consumer confusion. The steakhouse filed for the trademark “1587 Prime” in the bar and restaurant category back in December 2023. The sneaker company’s “1587” trademark application, filed in October 2024, falls under the clothing category and that application is still under review by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.
The critical question becomes whether a restaurant and a sneaker company are similar enough industries for consumers to reasonably assume an affiliation between them. The steakhouse’s sale of branded apparel merchandise complicates that separation, since it creates an overlap with the clothing category where the sneaker brand operates.
The broader stakes
What makes this case worth watching beyond the celebrity names attached is the David-and-Goliath dimension. A culturally rooted small business built around Asian American identity and history is claiming that two of the most recognizable athletes in professional sports inadvertently or at minimum, without sufficient due diligence adopted branding that duplicated their own. Whether or not that rises to legal liability, the optics carry weight.
Kelce and Mahomes opened 1587 Prime last year alongside business partner Noble 33, and it has operated as a high-profile addition to Kansas City’s restaurant scene. The star power behind it generates a level of visibility that a small sneaker brand simply cannot match, which is precisely the concern at the center of the lawsuit.
Gerben’s assessment was candid he believes this is a difficult case for 1587 Sneakers to win outright. But difficult isn’t impossible, and the company has at least a plausible argument built on timing and first use. How aggressively Kelce and Mahomes’ legal team defends the trademark, and whether both sides ultimately find a negotiated resolution, will determine where this one lands.
