The battle of the woven upper idea is in full force.
Following the Summer Olympic debuted of Nike’ Flyknit and Adidas’ Primeknit,
many wondered which of these footwear companies got to the knitted upper first.
Earlier this week, Nike announced they’ve won a temporary injunction in a
German Court for Adidas to stop both Primeknit production and distribution.
This temporary injunction doesn’t settle the matter but does reveal the legal
point of view in the who-did-it-first battle. Nike’s full statement can be seen
below:
We are pleased the District Court in
Nuremberg has granted our application for an interim injunction against adidas
for patent infringement by the “adizero primeknit” shoe released in July, 2012.
As a result, adidas has been ordered to stop the manufacture and distribution
of the shoe in Germany.
Nike has a strong heritage of
innovation and leadership in footwear design and development. Our patents are
the foundation of that leadership and we protect them vigorously. In this case,
the injunction helps protect the innovative NikeFlyknit footwear technology Nike introduced in
February, 2012.
We look forward to presenting our case
for a permanent injunction to the court.
