Reebok, owned by Authentic Brands Group, has filed a lawsuit against Autry USA LLC and Autry International S.r.l accusing them of “aggressively marketing and selling blatant knockoff versions of Reebok shoes” and infringing its trademark rights in the process. The case (No. 1:2023cv10966) was filed in US District Court for the District of Massachusetts on May 2.
Reebok alleges that Autry has copied Reebok’s iconic Stripecheck, Crosscheck, and Window Box Marks trademarks, deliberately creating confusion in the market. Reebok also claims that Autry intentionally targeted “the same and/or similar consumers and prospective consumers as Reebok” through similar channels of trade. Furthermore, Reebok points to the fact that flooding the market with similar but lower quality footwear “threatens to harm, and has in fact harmed, Reebok’s reputation for high-quality collaborations.” According to the filing, Reebok is requesting that Autry recalls all of its infringing items and delivers them to be destroyed. Reebok is also requesting the Court to permanently restrict Autry from advertising, marketing, promoting, offering for sale, distributing, or selling the alleged infringing shoes that use its Stripecheck, Crosscheck, and Window Box Marks trademarks. Finally, Reebok is seeking any and all profits derived by Autry from the sale or distribution of the infringing footwear, damages from Autry’s alleged acts, and attorneys’ fees.
The Autry sneaker brand was founded in 1982 in Dallas by Jim Autry. In 2019, the brand was acquired by a group of Italian business partners, including Marco Doro, Alberto Raengo and Gino Zarelli. The Made in Italy Fund then acquired a majority stake in the brand in 2021.
