Nike Settles Trademark Infringement Lawsuit Against BAPE
In the agreement, the Japanese fashion label has agreed to discontinue and redesign several of its flagship footwear models.
Update (04/29/2024): On Monday, Nike settled its trademark infringement lawsuit against BAPE (otherwise known as A Bathing Ape), which accused the Japanese streetwear label of illegally copying its signature footwear designs, including the Air Force 1, Air Jordan and Dunk, according to a new filing in New York’s Southern District Court.
The filing stated that the two parties ended the dispute in a “stipulated dismissal.” As part of the resolution, BAPE agreed to discontinue the production of its BAPE STA Mid, COURT STA and COURT STA High models, as well as redesign its BAPE STA and SK8 STA sneakers, according to a statement from Nike.
Original Story (01/25/2023): Nike is finally taking a stand against BAPE, suing the Japanese fashion brand for allegedly copying some of its most iconic footwear designs.
Reuters reports that the Oregon-based shoe giant has filed a federal court lawsuit against A Bathing Ape for trademark infringement on the Nike Air Force 1, Air Jordan 1 and Nike Dunk. The lawsuit claims that “BAPE’s current footwear business revolves around copying Nike’s iconic designs.” The document also show cases five of BAPE’s top-selling footwear products — the BAPE STA, BAPE STA Mid, SK8 STA, COURT STA High and COURT STA — and now they are “near verbatim copies” of Nike’s aforementioned sneakers.
Nike claims that BAPE first introduced its first trademark-infringing footwear in the U.S. in 2005 and that for the 15 years, BAPE has had a presence in the American market, they have been infringing products. Sales of BAPE in the U.S. have reportedly been “sporadic” up until 2021, when the label, now owned by Hong Kong-based I.T. Ltd., “drastically increased the volume and scope of its infringement.” The lawsuit indicates, “BAPE’s copying is and always has been unacceptable to Nike, and because BAPE’s infringements have recently grown to become a significant danger to Nike’s rights, Nike must act now.”
While both companies’ representatives have not yet commented on the issue, Nike has said that BAPE has “refused” to stop violating the trademark infringements when asked, leading to this lawsuit. Nike is hoping that BAPE will stop selling the shoes and pay a requested, unspecified amount of money for damages incurred.
Wow… Nike just sued Bape 👀 Filed 1/25/2023 #nike #bape #lawsuit #TM #AF1 #AJ1 pic.twitter.com/44BW5twr1M
— Sneaker & Streetwear Legal Services℠ (@SneakerLegal) January 26, 2023
In other footwear news, here are the biggest street style footwear trends at Men’s Paris Fashion Week FW23.
