The ruling, delivered March 31 by Judge Arun Subramanian, found two of Nike’s Flyknit patent claims invalid on grounds of obviousness — handing Lululemon a significant win, though a separate six-patent dispute over the Mirror Home Gym is still pending.
A judge in US Federal Court, Southern District of New York (Manhattan), has overturned the jury verdict of March 7 that found Lululemon liable for infringing a patent of Nike’s and levied a fine of $355,450, according to Reuters and others. The fine was much less than Nike was seeking: a penalty calculated on revenue. The case was filed in January 2023.
Judge Arun Subramanian, who granted Lululemon’s post-verdict motion for judgment as a matter of law, ruled on March 31 that claims 1 and 14 of Nike’s patent are invalid for obviousness – i.e., would at the time of the patent’s filing have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art (PHOSITA). This is close to what Lululemon had argued in its defense.
Nike filed the patent in question – relating to the manufacture of Nike’s Flyknit fabric – in September 2012. It concerns, in part, an upper consisting of a “textile element” that can have a first and second area of different stitch configurations but joined in unitary construction. According to The Fashion Law, Lululemon used what Nike called “the claimed inventions” to produce similar knitted uppers for its Chargefeel, Strongfeel and Blissfeel sneakers.
Nike has another case, in the same venue, pending against Lululemon, this one alleging the infringement of six patents by the Mirror Home Gym and its related mobile apps. It was filed in January 2022, and Nike is seeking triple damages and more.
In May 2024 the US Patent and Trademark Office’s Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) canceled several claims in two of these Nike patents.
Lululemon acquired Mirror in July 2020, having taken part the year before in its Series B round of funding.
