According to Nike, despite StockX’s assurances that it exclusively sells original shoes, the business acquired four pairs of counterfeit sneakers on the site.
Nike Inc requested a federal judge to let it add counterfeiting and false advertising accusations to its current trademark infringement litigation against StockX. Nike said they purchased four pairs of counterfeit shoes from StockX between December and January.
”Those four pairs of counterfeit shoes were all purchased during a two-month period on StockX’s platform, all had StockX’s ‘Verified Authentic’ hangtag attached to them, and all came with a paper receipt from StockX in the shoebox,” Nike stated in court papers Tuesday.
For its part, Nike accused StockX of “blatantly freeriding” on its trademarks and goodwill using a service called Vault NFTs. StockX argues that its NFTs are merely listings for physical sneakers housed in its vault that consumers can exchange.
“Fighting the growth of counterfeit items that practically every global marketplace faces today,” StockX said in a statement Wednesday.
This is particularly odd given that their own brand protection team has expressed confidence in our authentication program, and that hundreds of Nike employees — including current senior executives — utilize StockX to buy and sell merchandise.
As NFTs gain popularity, prominent brands from Louis Vuitton to Taco Bell are suing over them. Nike acquired RTFKT in December for an undisclosed fee and introduced its own digital sneakers last month.
StockX reportedly plans to go public as investors flock to unconventional assets like shoes and collectibles. A secondary tender offering valued the firm at $3.8 billion in April 2021.
In a desperate attempt to revive its losing legal lawsuit against our breakthrough Vault NFT service that revolutionizes how consumers can buy, store, and sell collectibles safely, efficiently, and sustainably, StockX argued Nike’s move was. A lack of grasp of the modern marketplace is evident in Nike’s challenge. Nike Inc. v StockX LLC, 22-cv-983, Southern District of New York.
