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In a final blow to Nike Inc., the U.S. Supreme Court has declined to hear its appeal against a patent decision favoring Adidas, effectively closing a long-standing legal battle over sneaker technology patents.
Now the U.S. Supreme Court reportedly rejected Nike’s appeal, and since it is already the highest tribunal, the long-standing legal battle with Adidas is now considered a solved case.
As per JD Journal, the Supreme Court refused to hear the appeal filed by Nike, wherein it is seeking to overturn the decision of the Patent Office court. The verdict from the lower court was upheld by the bureau’s Patent Trial and Appeal Board, and apparently, the justices at the higher court made the same decision as well.
It was mentioned that the lawsuits between Nike and Adidas have been going on for years as they have been fighting over a number of patents related to the application of technology in their respective shoe designs. In fact, in 2012, the German sneaker and sportswear manufacturer petitioned the patent office tribunal to nullify one of Nike’s patents involving the seamless knitted upper parts of the sneakers.
At that time, the tribunal accepted the Air Jordan maker’s request to cancel parts of its patent but did not allow the firm to revise the patent. It was explained that it was declined based on the fact that there was an earlier publication that covered the same innovation which Nike is proposing as a substitute for some patent elements.
Reuters reported that the U.S. Court of Appeals, specializing in patent disputes, sent the case back to the board two times and finally dismissed Nike’s third appeal last year. The company told the court in March that the board should not have been allowed to scrap a substitute patent element as they please, based on reasonings that Adidas did not bring up at the time.
In any case, the latest decision of the Supreme Court not to review the case put a legal end to the proceedings - with finality. This is because the outcome has left Nike with no other way to pursue its patent case against Adidas in the U.S. judicial system.
Photo by: Lennart Uecker/Unsplash
