Nike sues StockX for selling its sneakers as NFT

Nike last Friday (1 February) filed a lawsuit in a New York federal court accusing sneaker and apparel online marketplace StockX of selling unauthorised Nike products as NFTs which infringes its trademark. 

“Recognising firsthand the immense value of Nike’s brands, StockX has chosen to compete in the NFT market not by taking the time to develop its own intellectual property rights, but rather by blatantly freeriding, almost exclusively, on the back of Nike’s famous trademarks and associated goodwill,” the filing said.

As reported by Reuters, there are also other concerns written in the filing, including “inflated prices and murky terms of purchase and ownership” and buyers' confusion on StockX's business model.

According to Nike, Stockx has sold over 500 NFTs associated with its brand. As reported by High Snobiety, back in January, StockX decided to enter the NFT market by selling NFTs that correspond to real-life products. 

Buyers will get the NFT which certifies ownership of said sneakers and they can exchange their NFT for the actual sneaker at any time in the future. However, High Snobiety stated that it is quite impossible to happen “as the prices for NFTs are astronomically higher than the corresponding real-world shoe.”

In the lawsuit, Nike requested StockX to cease and destroy all NFTs associated with Nike’s trademarks and pay for damages Nike suffered. 

A month ago, Hermès filed a similar trademark infringement and dilution lawsuit against MetaBirkins which sells Hermès virtual bags as NFTs.