Nike is taking action against an anonymous group of counterfeit sneaker sellers and e-commerce stores, and says marketplaces like Amazon and eBay aren’t doing enough to quell the problem.
In a trademark infringement and infringement suit filed Monday in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, Nike is focusing on sellers who offer unauthorized and unlicensed products using Nike’s federally registered trademarks. The word marks in question include the name Nike, Nike Air, Air Max, Swoosh, LeBron, Air Force 1, Dunk and Dri-Fit, among others. Infringed logos include the Swoosh, Jumpman, Air Jordan Wings, and emblems associated with LeBron James, Kyrie Irving, Carmelo Anthony, and Kevin Durant.
Defendants in the lawsuit are unnamed at Nike’s request to keep the case under seal. Nike says this is a necessary step to avoid notifying defendants ahead of the temporary restraining order, which could result in the “destruction of relevant documentary evidence and the concealment or transfer of assets to foreign jurisdictions”.
Nike notes that the defendants (and other e-commerce store operators like them) are in regular contact with each other through chat rooms on sites like qq.com, where they allegedly exchange tips on ” operation of multiple accounts, avoidance of detection, ongoing litigation, and potential new lawsuits.
While the specific offending sellers were not named, Nike called out a number of massive online marketplaces for not doing enough to prevent counterfeits on their platforms. Amazon, eBay, AliExpress, Alibaba, Wish and DHgate are mentioned as not properly vetting new sellers through identity verification and confirmation and instead allowing sellers to use false names and addresses. Nike believes these marketplaces are “unable or unwilling” to stop the proliferation of counterfeits on their websites.
In 2021, Nike sued nearly 600 websites allegedly selling fake sneakers. The brand also went through a high-profile legal battle with Los Angeles-based designer Warren Lotas in 2020.
Nike is asking that the defendants be permanently barred from selling the imitation products, that third-party vendors such as Amazon and eBay stop running advertisements for the defendants, and that the defendants reimburse Nike for any profits they made from the sale of counterfeit brands. Alternatively to reimbursement of profits, Nike is seeking statutory damages of $2,000,000 for “each use” of the brand’s trademarks.
