Nike Says Adidas Shoe Imports Infringe on Patents

Nike on Wednesday (Dec. 8) filed a complaint with the U.S. International Trade Commission, asking it to block imports of 49 Adidas shoe designs that use Primeknit technology, saying they infringe upon six Nike patents related to its Flyknit design technology.

Last year, Adidas was unsuccessful in its attempt to invalidate two of the Nike patents in a case heard by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit.

Adidas is analyzing the complaint and plans to defend itself against Nike’s allegations, according to an email sent to Reuters by a company spokesperson, who said Primeknit “resulted from years of dedicated research.” Nike and its attorney Christopher Renk of Arnold & Porter Kaye Scholer couldn’t be reached for comment.

In its complaint, Nike says its Flyknit technology on the upper part of its shoes allows the company to create lifestyle apparel and gear for soccer, basketball running and other sports that “excels in performance, design and aesthetics while reducing materials and waste.” LeBron James and Cristiano Ronaldo are among the highest-profile wearers of Flyknit-equipped footwear, Nike says in the filing.

Nike cited Adidas lifestyle shoes, football cleats, running shoes and hiking shoes as those which infringe on its patent, pointing to Ultraboost, Terrex and X Speedflow lines, among others. Nike says Adidas introduced its Primeknit technology five months after Nike announced Flyknit in 2012.

Related: Adidas Expects $1.2B Hit to Sales as Supply Constraints Rage On

In November, Adidas said it’s expecting sales to take a 1 billion euro ($1.2 billion) hit over the next two quarters because of factory closures in Vietnam and supply chain bottlenecks. Adidas doesn’t expect to reach full production capacity until next year, saying that will lead to a 400 million euro ($462 million) sales impact this year and a 600 million euro ($693 million) jolt early next year.

In September, Nike said it had lost 10 weeks of production because of factory closures in Vietnam and Indonesia, noting that transit times in North America are now almost double pre-pandemic levels.