Nike Cries Foul Over Virtual Shoes, Suing Retailer StockX for Selling Sneaker NFTs

The complaint said StockX has sold over 500 Nike-branded NFTs.

By Reuters | Updated: 4 February 2022 13:10 IST

Photo Credit: Reuters

Nike will release "a number of virtual products" later this month with digital studio RTFKT

Highlights

Nike claims StockX sold unauthorized images of Nike shoes
StockX has sold over 500 Nike-branded NFTs, according to Nike
Nike has sought unspecified money damages and an order blocking sales

Sneaker giant Nike sued online reseller StockX in a federal court in New York on Thursday for selling unauthorized images of Nike shoes, marking the latest lawsuit over digital assets known as non-fungible tokens. Nike said StockX's NFTs infringe its trademarks and are likely to confuse consumers. Its lawsuit asked for unspecified money damages and an order blocking their sales.

Detroit-based StockX, a platform for reselling sneakers, handbags and other goods, was valued at more than $3.8 billion last year.

A representative for the company did not respond to a request for comment, nor did Nike or its attorneys.

[Sponsored] Samsung Galaxy S24: The Ultimate Camera Phone With Smarter On-Device AI

Nike said StockX last month began selling unauthorized NFTs of its sneakers, telling buyers they would be able to redeem the tokens for physical versions of the shoes "in the near future."

The complaint said StockX has sold over 500 Nike-branded NFTs.

The lawsuit said complaints about the NFTs' "inflated prices and murky terms of purchase and ownership" and buyers' doubts about the legitimacy of StockX's model have hurt Nike's business reputation.

NFT Museum Opens Its Doors in United States

Nike said it will release "a number of virtual products" later this month in conjunction with the digital art studio RTFKT, which it acquired in December.

NFTs have recently exploded in popularity, and lawsuits over them have begun to hit U.S. courts. Miramax sued director Quentin Tarantino in November over his plans to auction NFTs related to the 1994 film "Pulp Fiction," which he directed and the studio distributed.

Last month, Hermes sued artist Mason Rothschild over his "MetaBirkin" NFTs of the French company's Birkin bags.

© Thomson Reuters 2021

Interested in cryptocurrency? We discuss all things crypto with WazirX CEO Nischal Shetty and WeekendInvesting founder Alok Jain on Orbital, the Gadgets 360 podcast. Orbital is available on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music and wherever you get your podcasts.

Cryptocurrency is an unregulated digital currency, not a legal tender and subject to market risks. The information provided in the article is not intended to be and does not constitute financial advice, trading advice or any other advice or recommendation of any sort offered or endorsed by NDTV. NDTV shall not be responsible for any loss arising from any investment based on any perceived recommendation, forecast or any other information contained in the article.

Affiliate links may be automatically generated - see our ethics statement for details.

Comments

For the latest tech news and reviews, follow Gadgets 360 on X, Facebook, WhatsApp, Threads and Google News. For the latest videos on gadgets and tech, subscribe to our YouTube channel. If you want to know everything about top influencers, follow our in-house Who'sThat360 on Instagram and YouTube.