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Nike is cracking down on the fake sneaker market.
Both Nike Inc. and Converse Inc. filed a massive lawsuit against 589 websites in addition to hundreds of social media accounts for allegedly infringing on trademarks in an effort to sell counterfeit sneakers, as originally reported by Footwear News.
The complaint was filed on January 12, 2021, in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York. Nike and Converse claim the nearly 600 websites (including mybestsneakers.com, muks-store.com, and perfectkicks.org in addition to 676 social media accounts) that have attempted to profit off of Nike’s and Converse’s trademarks by making and then promoting “falsely labeled” counterfeit products.
The lawsuit states the following:
“To ensure that consumers make the association between defendants’ counterfeit products and the genuine Nike Products from which they were copied, defendants not only copy the designs, patterns and color schemes associated with [Nike and Converse] products, but also expressly identify the counterfeit products as ‘Nike’ or ‘Converse’ products. Further, defendants make unauthorized use of plaintiffs’ marks, including the trademark-protected ‘Nike’ and ‘Converse’ names, throughout the infringing websites and infringing social media on which these goods are advertised or offered for sale to consumers in the United States and this District.”
Nike is sending up the clean-up crew as the fake sneaker market continues to rise in popularity. Keep it locked on Nice Kicks as the lawsuit develops.
