Court Forces Nike to Pull $16 Million “Sport Changes Everything” Campaign in Trademark Infringement Case

Fashion Law reports

This summer during commercial breaks for the Major League Baseball All-Star Game, Nike rolled out a powerful three-part campaign aimed at encouraging youth sports. In three video segments, the Portland-based sportswear giant featured the stories of teen mother and soccer player Nayeli Rivera, Chicago-native Maynor De Leon, who set out to lose 500 pounds, and runner Justin Gallegos, who dreamt of running a half marathon in two hours despite being plagued with cerebral palsy. The message of the inspirational campaign: “Sport Changes Everything.”

Less than two months after Nike debuted the campaign, one that cost it a whopping $16 million to make and that Nike planned to run through 2020, a North Carolina-headquartered sportswear retailer called foul. In a 23-page complaint filed in a federal court in North Carolina, Fleet Feet accused Nike of running afoul of its federally protected trademarks “Change Everything” and “Running Changes Everything,” arguing that Nike’s national campaign was trampling on the marks it has used since 2012.  

Fleet Feet alleged in its complaint that despite Nike being well aware of its trademarks since it stocks its footwear in Fleet Feet’s chain of nearly 200 stores, the sportswear giant opted to use the marks anyway. In fact, Fleet Feet argued that Nike initially went so far as to use the “Running Changes Everything” phrase – its exact trademark – on the Nike website, prompting Fleet Feet to complaint and Nike to swap “running” with “sport.” 

Full report  https://www.thefashionlaw.com/home/court-forces-nike-to-pull-16-million-sportnbspchangesnbspeverything-campaign-in-trademark-infringement-case