As previously reported, on Aug. 28 the Nuremberg District Court granted a request by Nike to ban Adidas' sale of its new Adizero Primeknit shoes through a preliminary injunction. Adidas says it expects that the court will decide on Nov. 7 to set aside its initial decision and to rule in favor of the German company.
Pointing out that the court had not had the opportunity to hear Adidas' side of the story when it issued the injunction, Adidas said that the court ordered the injunction to be lifted a few days after the Three Stripes filed their case. According to Adidas, the same court made it clear during a hearing last week that the granted injunction cannot be sustained.
Adidas adds that it has filed for cancellation of Nike's patent rights, with documents showing that the fused yarn technology behind the knitted uppers of its products has been known since the 1940s. Nike has used this technology on two items, the Flywire and the Flyknit, which were launched one after the other before Adidas came up with its Primeknit.
Nike responded that it would continue the present judicial case and file an infringement claim against Adidas. It's not sure where, but it is possible that the Swoosh will try to invalidate Adidas' arguments in one or more countries outside Germany.
The ensuing legal battle is going to be quite interesting. It remains to be proven why the two major sports brands put out their respective products based on a similar technology within months of each other. Furthermore, it seems likely that many other brands will make use of knitted uppers, especially because of cost and environmental considerations, if in fact the technology is proven to be in the public domain.
