Valencia embroiled in Batman battle over club's logo

Trademark row over the trajectory of the bat's wings in club logo

Valencia may be flying high in the Spanish football league but faces an even bigger challenge than the mighty Real Madrid and Barcelona.

The club is embroiled in a legal battle in Brussels with DC Comics, the American company behind superhero Batman, over the use of its bat crest.

The New York-based publisher has lodged a complaint with the European Union’s trademark body over the design of the Valencia logo - even though the first Batman comic was published in 1940 and the Spanish club has been using a bat since 1919.

The issue centres around the trajectory of the bat in the Valencia logo, known as Rat Penat, which DC claims looks too similar to the cape crusader's symbol.

The tussle is reminiscent of the battle between former Spice Girl Victoria Beckham and Peterborough over the use of the nickname “Posh”. In the end, nothing came of it.