Nike and Adidas Settle Two Separate Patent Lawsuits – Footwear News
Nike and Adidas have resolved a number of US patent disputes on sneaker technology, according to new court documents filed last week.
The dispute between the two athletics companies began in December 2021 when Nike Inc. filed a lawsuit in the United States District Court, Oregon District, alleging that Adidas AG was infringing many of its footwear patents, most notably the Flyknit knit upper technology. The lawsuit specifically cited Adidas’s Primeknit shoes as an example of a product allegedly infringing Nike’s patents.
In the same month, Nike asked the US International Trade Commission (ITC) to initiate an investigation against Adidas on the basis of its alleged “illegal and unauthorized” import and / or sale in the United States of certain infringing knitted footwear products. Nike’s patents that protect its Flyknit technology. The ITC launched an investigation into Adidas shoes based on the complaint in January.
Adidas filed its own lawsuit in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Texas in June. In this counterclaim, Adidas claimed that Nike “knowingly and intentionally” infringed nine patents related to Adidas’ proprietary athletic technology. The lawsuit denounces the Nike Run Club app, the Nike Training Club app and the Nike SNKRS app as allegedly containing illicit elements. The complaint also disputes Nike’s software connecting to its shoes via a remote device, which is featured in Nike Adapt, HyperAdapt and Nike Mag 2016.
“Adidas has long been a leader in mobile technology, including technology related to mobile fitness and mobile shopping,” Adidas said in the June lawsuit. “Adidas was the first in the industry to fully bring data analytics to athletes.”
Claiming to have been “irreparably damaged” by Nike’s infringement, Adidas has asked to be compensated for an amount that compensates for Nike’s “illegal activities” which is “no event less than a reasonable royalty”.
The companies jointly asked the Oregon court to dismiss Nike’s lawsuit on Tuesday, and on Thursday they asked the Texas court and the ITC to dismiss their cases.
All the documents said the dispute had been resolved. Details of the deal were not immediately available.
FN reached out to both companies for comment.
Separately, both companies have been involved in their own lawsuits relating to patents with other brands. Nike filed a lawsuit against StockX in February, arguing that the sneaker resale market used Nike brand logos and products in an attempt to enter the NFT, or non-fungible token, market. The Swoosh also charged Lululemon Athletica Inc. of patent infringement related to its Mirror fitness device at home and other apps in a lawsuit filed in January.
In July 2021, Milkcrate Athletics sued Adidas North America for alleged copyright and trademark infringement. And in May 2018, Adidas and Skechers USA Inc. settled a lawsuit filed for the first time by the German brand in September 2015, claiming that Skechers had illegally infringed on many of its brands.