Nike has settled its trademark infringement lawsuit against Japanese streetwear brand Bape.
According to a stipulated dismissal filed in New York’s Southern District Court on April 29, Nike and Bape said that they have entered into a settlement agreement in resolution of their year-long legal battle over look-alike shoe designs first filed in January 2023.
As part of the settlement, Bape has agreed to discontinue its Bape Sta Mid, Court Sta, and Court Sta High sneakers, and modify the designs of its Bape Sta and Sk8 Sta sneaker models.
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This settlement comes after a New York federal judge denied Bape’s request in March to dismiss the trademark lawsuit Nike has mounted against the Japanese brand for over a year.
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Bape first issued the motion to dismiss on May 17, 2023. In the motion, Bape argued that the case be dismissed because Nike had not described in detail what it had already proven to the U.S. Trademark Office, namely which elements of its iconic styles are distinctive and how they are distinctive.
But ultimately, the court explained that Nike’s certificates of registration articulate Nike’s asserted trade dress as it contains “detailed written descriptions as well as diagrams that specifically denote which part of the trade dress are being claimed as distinctive.”
Now, the next move in the case is a pretrial conference between both parties on March 14.
This lawsuit was the latest legal action Nike has taken to protect its trademarks. In December, Nike filed a trademark infringement lawsuit against Nickwon Arvinger and David Weeks of By Kiy LLC (known as “Kiy”), as well as Bill Omar Carrasquillo (known as “Omi”) of Reloaded Merch LLC, accusing them of knocking off its Air Jordan 1 and Dunk sneaker styles.
Last August, footwear designer John Geiger and Nike resolved their trademark infringement battle. That same month, Nike and Adidas settled a series of U.S. patent disputes over sneaker technology.