The American sportswear giant Nike suffered a defeat. A federal judge in Manhattan has overturned a jury verdict previously in the company’s favor. This meant that a damages payment of around 355,450 US dollars (308,000 euros) against the Canadian sportswear company Lululemon USA Inc. was declared null and void.
Nike originally claimed that Lululemon had infringed two patents. These involved innovations in sneaker structures, particularly the knitted construction of shoe uppers.
A jury previously found that Lululemon infringed claims one and 14 of U.S. Patent No. 8,266,749. However, the court now decided that the patent in question was invalid. The judge said the technology would have been obvious to an average person skilled in the field at the time of its invention.
Details about the patent claims
The litigation focused on several Lululemon running and training models. These included the Blissfeel, Blissfeel 2, Chargefeel Low and Strongfeel models. Nike had sought damages of at least five percent of the sales generated from these specific products.
The court ruling found that Lululemon had initially infringed the ‘749 patent by importing and selling these models. However, the claims of a second patent, US Patent No. 9,375,046, were not infringed. Additionally, the court found that the ‘046 patent was not preempted by the Nike Lunar One and was therefore invalid.
Despite the original ruling in March last year, the subsequent patent invalidity decision removes Lululemon’s liability for these damages.
Ongoing legal disputes
This shoe dispute is not the only legal dispute between the two industry giants. Nike had already filed a separate lawsuit against Lululemon in 2022 regarding the Mirror Home Gym. This case, which involves patent infringement related to digital fitness technology, has not yet been resolved in New York court.
This article was created using digital tools translated.
FashionUnited uses artificial intelligence to speed up the translation of articles and improve the end result. They help us to make FashionUnited’s international reporting quickly and comprehensively accessible to a German-speaking readership. Articles translated using AI-based tools are proofread and carefully edited by our editors before they are published. If you have any questions or comments, please email [email protected]
