Nike sues retailer over alleged unauthorized NFT sneaker sales

The athletic apparel and footwear company Nike filed иск against online retailer StockX for unauthorized sale of sneaker images as NFT. The complaint was filed in the Southern District of New York.

According to Nike, StockX infringed its trademarks and misled consumers. The company is seeking damages in an unspecified amount and an injunction prohibiting the sale of digital assets.

In the filing, Nike stated that in January the retailer began offering NFTs, touting the possibility of redeeming a real pair of sneakers “in the near future.”

StockX has sold more than 500 digital collectibles under the Nike brand, according to the company. Consumer complaints about inflated prices, opaque terms of purchase and ownership of NFTs, and doubts about the legality of StockX’s proposed model have damaged Nike’s business reputation, the company said.

The company said that NFTs are a way for brands to engage with their customers, but some market players are attempting to ‘usurp’ it and unlawfully use trademarks to obtain improper profits.

Nike also announced in February its own release of a “series of virtual products” in collaboration with the digital art studio RTFKT, which acquired in December 2021.

The company first articulated its ambitions in the digital assets space in 2019, patenting a mechanism for tokenizing products on the Ethereum blockchain.

Earlier, former president and CEO of The Walt Disney Company Robert Iger expressed concern about copyright infringement in the NFT space.