On Sept. 30, Nike filed a lawsuit in the Central District of California against Skechers over the manufacture of “Skecherized versions” of its Air Max 270 and VaporMax sneakers. The shoes that are alleged to have infringed Nike's patents are the Skech-Air Atlas, Skech-Air 92, Skech-Air Stratus and Skech-Air Blast. The VaporMax design, released in 2017, and the Air Max 270, released in 2018, include Nike's proprietary Air soles, which the company introduced with the Air Max 1 in 1987. Nike is seeking a permanent injunction as well as damages. Nike has another lawsuit pending against Skechers, filed in 2015 and alleging infringement of trademarks related to the uppers and soles of its Flyknit shoes. In 2014, moreover, Converse, a subsidiary of Nike, sued 31 companies – Skechers and Walmart among them – for infringement of trademarks related to its Chuck Taylor All-Star. In that case, Nike won a partial victory, as the trademarks for the stripes, toe bumper and toe cap were declared invalid and only that for the diamond-pattered outsole was upheld.

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