Nike Files Patent Infringement Action Against Adidas
February 16 2006 - 7:49PM
PR Newswire (US)
Complaint Identifies Several Adidas Products as Infringing Upon
Nike Patent; Nike Also Serves Complaints Upon Two Other Companies
During World Shoe Association Show in Las Vegas BEAVERTON, Ore.,
Feb. 16 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- In its continuing effort to
protect its product innovations and investment in research and
development, Nike today filed a legal complaint against
Adidas-Salomon in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District
of Texas. (Logo:
http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/19990818/NIKELOGO ) The
complaint identifies several top Adidas products that infringe upon
Nike's patented SHOX cushioning technology. These infringing
products include shoes using Adidas' a3 cushioning system,
including the new Kevin Garnett signature shoe and its Adidas_1
footwear. The Nike patent protects technical columnar design
features of the Shox system that maximize stability and performance
of the shoe. Despite Nike's patent protection, Adidas has built
shoes that use Nike's technology. "Nike is widely recognized for
its product innovation in footwear and athletic products and we
invest heavily to provide performance products to our consumers. It
is deeply frustrating and inappropriate when companies borrow or
refashion such technologies as their own without making similar
investments," said Eric Sprunk, Vice President, Global Footwear,
Nike, Inc. As an example of Nike's commitment to innovation, Sprunk
referenced the Air Max 360, the company's latest offering in its
transformative line of Nike Air footwear that originally debuted in
1979. Using a patented manufacturing process called "thermoforming"
the Air Max 360 shoe has a foamless mid-sole that features a
superior cushioning system and has already shown promising future
applications for athletic footwear performance. Similarly, Nike's
SHOX cushioning technology, which debuted in 2000, is protected by
19 or more separate patents on its unique cushioning system and
required 16 years of development and considerable financial
investment to transition it into the athletic footwear marketplace.
"Nike often reinvests its revenues into research and development of
such new products. Understandably, Nike and its shareholders cannot
allow infringement to occur unchallenged," added Sprunk. During
last week's World Shoe Association Show in Las Vegas, Nike also
served complaints on two other companies infringing on Nike's
intellectual property and patents. Those companies, Air Max Import
and Export Inc. and Romeo and Juliette had previously come to
Nike's attention regarding violations of Nike's patent rights.
Copies of the full complaints in any of the above matters can be
downloaded from http://www.nikebiz.com/. About NIKE, Inc. NIKE,
Inc. based near Beaverton, Oregon is the world's leading designer,
marketer and distributor of authentic athletic footwear, apparel,
equipment and accessories for a wide variety of sports and fitness
activities. Wholly-owned Nike subsidiaries include Converse Inc.,
which designs, markets and distributes athletic footwear, apparel
and accessories; NIKE Bauer Hockey Inc., a leading designer and
distributor of hockey equipment; Cole Haan, a leading designer and
marketer of luxury shoes, handbags, accessories and coats; Hurley
International LLC, which designs, markets and distributes action
sports and youth lifestyle footwear, apparel and accessories and
Exeter Brands Group LLC, which designs and markets athletic
footwear and apparel for the value retail channel. FCMN Contact:
Alexis.Patterson@nike.com
http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/19990818/NIKELOGO
http://photoarchive.ap.org/ DATASOURCE: NIKE, Inc. CONTACT: Vada O.
Manager, Director, Global Issues Management of NIKE, Inc., +1-503
671-2875, or fax, +1-503-671-4195 Web site:
http://www.nikeresponsibility.com/ Web site: http://www.nike.com/
Web site: http://www.nikebiz.com/
Copyright