Nike v. Wal-Mart: Shox Shoes at Center of Patent Suit

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Seattle SuperSonics center Johan Petro wears a pair of Nike Shox shoes while facing the Denver Nuggets, March 16, 2008. (AP/David Zalubowski)

The Law Blog’s dad seems to have taken a shine to sneakers that are, well, a bit out there. Some recent acquisitions include a pair of yellow and purple Adidas, as well as a pair of faux-crocodile skin New Balance, which he refers to, rather fondly, as his “faux-crocs.” We think the Nike Shox — a classy version of which appear to your left — would be perfect for dad, assuming he doesn’t already own a pair.

They’re also perfect for the Law Blog because, as it turns out, they’ve sparked a lawsuit. In a complaint filed Monday in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, Nike alleges that Wal-Mart has infringed Nike’s patent on the Shox line. Here’s the complaint, and here’s a Reuter’s report.

A call to Wal-Mart was not immediately returned.

The complaint, which requests an injunction and treble damages for allegedly willful infringement, isn’t all that notable. We tell you about it because, back in May, another shoe retailer, Payless, discovered that a finding of willful trademark infringement of the Adidas three-stripe design was quite costly. There, a federal jury in Oregon awarded Adidas about $305 million, understood by some lawyers to be the largest trademark verdict ever.

In this suit, Nike is repped by Banner & Witcoff’s Erik Maurer and Christopher Renk.