The sneaker game is cold-blooded, more so when it comes to major brands than regular consumers. Nike has won a temporary injunction against adidas to stop using what the Swoosh brand feels is a copy of its Flyknit Technology. Although adidas was working on its own knit technology, found in the adidas adiZero Primeknit that dropped in June, for years, Nike brought their version (Nike Flyknit) to market first back in February. A German court has ruled that Adidas’ tech may infringe on Nike’s patent, and has temporarily ordered the three stripes to stop making the kicks in Germany.
Nike issued a statement commenting on the court’s decision.
We are pleased the District Court in Nuremberg has granted our application for an interim injunction against adidas for patent infringement by the “adizero primeknit” shoe released in July, 2012. As a result, adidas has been ordered to stop the manufacture and distribution of the shoe in Germany.
Nike has a strong heritage of innovation and leadership in footwear design and development. Our patents are the foundation of that leadership and we protect them vigorously. In this case, the injunction helps protect the innovative Nike Flyknit footwear technology Nike introduced in February, 2012.
We look forward to presenting our case for a permanent injunction to the court.
A major irony here is that adidas was founded in Germany while Nike was founded in the U.S.
What do you think of this debacle? Check out photos of both models in the gallery.
[Spotted at Sneaker News]
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Photos: Nike, adidas, Sneaker News
