Last year, 2021, Nike received a patent on the design of the Air Jordan 1 from the United States Patent and Trademark Office. For Nike, this was a big step in the fight against bootleggers. The fight did not stop there. In fact, Nike will receive new trademarks in February 2022.
Nike received in February 2022, patents on the designs of the Air Jordan 3, Air Jordan 4, Air Jordan 5, Air Jordan 11, Nike Air Foamposite, Nike Air Max 1 and the Nike Huarache. This makes it even harder for bootleggers and companies to produce and sell counterfeit products. How exactly does this work and what is the reason Nike is fighting this battle?
Trademark
With these trademarks, Nike is extra protected against bootleggers and companies who use these Nike models as the basis of their own products. The silhouette of the model is protected and can therefore not be used for another product of another company. This makes it a lot harder for these other parties to defend themselves and produce counterfeit products.
For example, last year there was a lawsuit against John Geiger. According to Nike, Geiger had used the design of the Air Force 1 as the basis for his own model. However, according to Geiger, it was only inspired by the model and was not a counterfeit.
Unfortunately, as of yet, there is no trademark on the Air Force 1, so it was and is more difficult for Nike to file suit against Geiger. If this party would have been found guilty with a trademark, Nike is entitled to triple damages. This is an example of why such a trademark is very important to a company like Nike.
Border Protection
A trademark is not only useful against counterfeit production, Nike now has the option to go to the Border Protection. Customs and Border Protection can help confiscate products that violate one of the trademarks. For example, products that resemble the silhouette of the Air Jordan 3 can be confiscated and can no longer be resold.
Bootleggers
Finally, Nike can now challenge bootleggers on Alibaba, Aliexpress and eBay much more easily. Companies on these websites use product photos without Swoosh or other branding. While these do appear on the actual product.
Nike already had a patent on the Swoosh and branding so these companies are not allowed to use it in the photos and actually not on the actual product either. With these trademarks, the silhouette can also no longer be used making it much harder for these bootleggers to sell counterfeit products.
So for Nike, these trademarks have only advantages. To list the advantages: Nike models are extra protected, Nike receives triple damages if the other party is found guilty, counterfeit goods are seized at customs and bootleggers are easier to deal with.
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