Nike Sues Skechers For Ripping Off Their Air Max Designs
Skechers is in hot water again, this time for ripping off a couple of Nike's popular Air Max sneakers.
According to Law360, Nike filed a lawsuit against the copycat brand on Monday, accusing them of stealing the VaporMax and Air Max 270 designs for their Skech-Air Atlas, Skech-Air Stratus, and Skech-Air Blast sneakers.
In the lawsuit, Nike claims that Skechers' CEO Robert Greenberg has encouraged employees to take part in "Skecherizing" - a term used for stealing sneaker designs from companies such as Nike and Adidas.
As part of the lawsuit, Nike wants Skechers to fork over statutory damages to or pay the total profit that it has made from mimicking Nike's Vapormax and Air Max 270s. Of course, Nike is also asking the courts to prevent Skechers from selling their Skech-Air Atlas, Skech-Air Stratus, and Skech-Air Blast sneakers.
As of this writing, the VaporMax-inspired Skech-Air Atlas (priced at $85) is no longer available for purchase on the Skechers website, although the other two are still up for grabs.