Explained: Everything to know about the Nike x Adidas lawsuit drama

The German sportswear giant Adidas is putting the Oregon-based sportswear giant Nike on the stands with a new lawsuit, filed on Friday, June 10, 2022, over alleged patent infringement in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Texas Marshall Division.

According to plaintiffs Adidas AG, Adidas International Marketing B.V., Adidas America, Inc., the defendant Nike Inc. has allegedly infringed upon nine of its patents, including the sneaker reservation app, CONFIRMED, shoe-fitting technology, and the Adidas_1 sneaker. This marks the trefoil company's first federal lawsuit against the Swoosh.

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Everything to know about Adidas v/s Nike for an alleged patent infringement lawsuit

Everything to know about Adidas v/s Nike for alleged patent infringement lawsuit (Image via play.google)

In the lawsuit, Adidas is taking a shot at the swoosh label's Adapt technology, which was the Oregon-based footwear label's initiative into the "smart" footwear. Under the adaptive technology, the shoe automatically adjusts to the wearer's shoe sizes and customizes the fit.

Adidas claims that the adapt system, which debuted in the retailers' shops in 2019, infringes on the trefoil company's Adidas_1 technology. The Adidas_1 sneaker was the first shoe by the three-stripes company to adjust and sense the comfort of the person's foot while the shoe was worn. Compared to the swoosh's Adapt technology, the Adidas_1 shoe was released way earlier in 2005, while its technology debut was announced in 2004.

The lawsuit claims reads:

"Twenty years later, in 2004, adidas launched the world’s first intelligent running shoe, the adidas 1, which sensed and adjusted the comfort of the shoe while the shoe was worn."

Adidas has previously filed similar lawsuits regarding technical aspects of the shoes and apps against the companies like ASICS and Under Armour. Adidas further explained the allegations against Nike in the lawsuit copy, reading:

"Defendant has knowingly and intentionally induced NRC App users to directly infringe at least claim 1 of the ’149 patent, inter alia, by (1) providing instructions or information,.... and (2) touting these infringing uses of NRC App in advertisements including but not limited to those on websites and other mobile app marketplace websites."

In another element of the lawsuit's claims, the three-stripes company claims over the infringement of the CONFIRMED app with Nike SNKRS' app. Adidas believes that the SNKRS app is an infringement of its CONFIRMED app.

Adidas claims to have launched its CONFIRMED app in early February 2015. The app paved the way for its consumers to make buying exclusive products easier and fairer for everyone.

According to the claims, the swoosh label followed the announcement of a similar SNKRS app just days after the launch of CONFIRMED. The SNKRS app was first launched in a password-protected capacity before its official global launch in May 2015, Adidas reports.

Adidas further calls for an infringement over swooshes' additional apps such as Training Club and Run Club. Adidas claims that,

“Adidas has long been a leader in mobile technology, including technology related to mobile fitness and mobile purchases. Adidas was the first in the industry to comprehensively bring data analytics to athletes.”

The lawsuit further claims,

"The Confirmed App reimagined how products are purchased with its safe, anti-bot raffle system.”

In the lawsuit, the three-striped German company is asking for the defendant, aka Nike, to serve an amount sufficient to compensate for any damages that the Adidas label has suffered due to the defendant's infringement. The brand hasn't given the specified amount.

They further asked the court to permanently injuct against the swoosh label and asked them to prevent any further infringement on any of its patents.