A Complaint was filed by Sportwear giant Nike against MSCHF for taking orders for its Satan Shoes, which were customized Nike Air Max 97 shoes, without Nike's approval. MSCHF is an American art collective based in Brooklyn, New York, United States which produces a wide range of artworks, ranging from laptops to sneakers, social media channels and photographs. The defendant customised Nike's shoes by adding red ink and human blood to the midsole, adding red embroidered satanic themed detailing, adding a bronze pentagram to the laces, and adding a new sock liner. A limited pair of 666 individually numbered shoes were released.  It also had a reference to a verse from the Gospel of Luke (10:18), which was the reason behind all the backlash it faced from the public who believed that it was an official collaboration with Nike.

1189526a.jpg

[Picture Credit: Nike]

Contentions

Nike contended that MSCHF has used its Intellectual property without Nike's authorisation as there was no collaboration between the two. Since the launch and announcement of these shoes Nike has suffered humongous harm to its goodwill and reputation. The use of Nike's 'swoosh' mark on the Satan shoes led people to believe that Nike has collaborated with MSCHF and its endorsing satanism. The registered 'Swoosh' symbol used by Nike is its most iconic mark through which people associate its products and recognise the wide array of goods sold by it all over the world. The shoes being sold by MSCHF are not genuine Nike shoes and thus, the defendant is deceiving people into believing that they are Nike products.

Due to the above-mentioned reasons Nike prayed for a permanent injunction over manufacturing transporting, promoting, advertising, publicizing, distributing or selling of Satan shoes bearing Nike's mark.

Order of the District Court

The Court having considered the facts and evidence provided by Nike affirmed the Company's goodwill and reputation. It found MSCHF's wrongful use of Nike's mark as confusing the consumers about the origin of the shoes and subsequently tarnishing the company's well known trade mark. It posed a threat of irreparable harm to Nike.

It granted a temporary restraining order prohibiting MSCHF from manufacturing and selling the Satan Shoes bearing the swoosh mark.

Later Nike also reached a settlement with MSCHF. Among other things, the defendant agreed to completely stop manufacturing and distributing the product and to repurchase all the sold shoes at retail price, removing them from circulation.

The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.