Adidas Sues Nike over Apps and Shoes

June 15, 2022

From the Verge:

Adidas claims that the Nike Run Club, Training Club, and SNKRS apps infringe its patents related to features like audio feedback during workouts, GPS tracking, training plans, integration with third-party accessories like heart rate monitors, and the ability to reserve and buy limited-edition sneakers. These are basic features on several running and fitness tracking apps, and this isn’t the first time Adidas has gone to court over it. In 2014, Adidas sued Under Armour over its Map My Fitness app. The two companies eventually settled, with Under Armour agreeing to pay Adidas a licensing fee.

Another dumb patent lawsuit. As a runner, software engineer, and lawyer who studied intellectual property I do not see how many of these patents issued by the overly permissive USPTO would pass the obviousness test in a court of law. The biggest bummer is the economics of litigation mean Nike is more likely to settle than do the world a favor and get these patents invalidated.

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This work by Matt Zagaja is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.