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In August of 2019 New Balance filed a lawsuit against Nautica for imitating the use of its now-iconic “N” logo. The dispute between the two brands has now been settled over the weekend.
According to a court filing from Friday, the two parties agreed to dismiss “without prejudice” all claims against Nautica, in addition to covering their own costs and attorneys’ fees. However, the terms of the agreement weren’t available in public documents, which means the court will retain jurisdiction over the brands should any future dispute arise from the settlement.
The lawsuit filed by the sneaker company in 2019 originally claimed that Nautica was “willfully and intentionally intending to free-ride off of the goodwill associated with [New Balance’s] Block ‘N’ trademarks” by imitating its logo, which first appeared on New Balance’s footwear in the mid-1970s. New Balance went on to assert that Nautica’s use of the “N” insignia would confuse customers, and further claimed the brand was using the logo on “various types of footwear…and [various] types of apparel.”
New Balance went on to state that it has “sold hundreds of millions of pairs of shoes and pieces of apparel bearing the marks worldwide, which represent many billions of dollars in sales. The Block N Marks are famous and embody an enormous amount of goodwill. They are among the company’s most valuable assets.”
Both brands have yet to officially comment on the settlement, but keep it locked here for more details when they surface.
