Now that NFT’s have become such a craze, it was only natural that closely following the surge would be a string of lawsuits.  And Nike is involved in a big one. 

They are suing an online marketplace that launched NFTs”s based on Nike shoes. 

StockX is the company in the crosshairs of Nike’s legal team.  They are resellers for streetwear, sneakers, bags, and other popular items. The other function of StockX is that they act as an intermediary that verifies the authenticity of items they take in.  

In January, StockX went next level and launched NFT’s linked with actual physical products, and the NFT’s would act sort of like a digital currency that can be redeemed for real items and traded. 

This lawsuit will test the limits of crypto trademark law because StockX tokens are linked with the name and picture of their corresponding products – Nike shoes in many cases, because Nike is so popular on the website. 

The lawsuit was filed in early February, and in a story in The Fashion Law, Nike states that StockX has launched nine limited-edition Vault NFT series, and eight of them are linked with authentic Nike goods.  So Nike’s argument, in essence, is that StockX has produced digital items that look like they came from or were approved by Nike. 

Here’s wording from the lawsuit. 

“StockX almost exclusively used Nike’s marks to launch its Vault NFTs because it knew that doing so would garner attention, drive sales, and confuse consumers into believing that Nike collaborated with StockX on the Vault NFTs. StockX is using Nike’s trademarks to market, promote, and attract potential purchasers.”

Nike believes that the crypto assets StockX created are linked with the name and picture of their trademarked products. StockX will need to show that the NFT’s are an extension of their normal reselling process. 

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