A lawsuit filed in a U.S. District Court in Massachusetts on Monday accuses Nike of infringing on SherryWear’s patent for an athletic bra with pockets.
The 32-page, seven-count complaint filed by the Florida-based bra brand contends that Nike not only violated the patent, but it did so knowingly after twice telling SherryWear founder Sherry Goff it wasn’t interested in the PocketBra after she pitched it twice, with photos, to Nike executives in 2015 and 2017. Because of the alleged intentionality of the infringement, Goff’s company is asking for triple the damages.
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The suit details the correspondence between Goff and Nike executives and legal department prior to Nike launching its own “Swoosh on the Run” bra with pockets on the side, front and back in January 2019. The product is no longer available for sale on Nike.com, but REI, Amazon, Running Warehouse and Dick’s Sporting Goods carry it online, further harming SherryWear’s ability to profit off its patents, according to the complaint.
Goff’s second pitch to Nike led to Paul Saraceni, then-VP of global IP transactions and licensing for the athletic giant, to ask the founder to send him a “non-confidential list of IP assets that [SherryWear] had begun to market for sale.”
Goff and Saraceni corresponded through email until March 24, 2017 when the Nike executive told her the company would “would respectfully pass on the opportunity.”
![A lawsuit filed in a U.S. District Court in Massachusetts on Monday accuses Nike of infringing on the patent of boutique women’s wear maker SherryWear for an athletic bra with pockets.
The 32-page, 7-count filing contends that Nike not only violated the patent, it did so knowingly after twice telling SherryWear founder Sherry Goff they were not interested in the Pocket Bra after she pitched it twice to Nike executives in 2015 and 2017. Because of the alleged intentionality of the infringement, plaintiffs are asking for triple the damages.
The suit details the correspondence between Goff and Nike executives and legal department prior to Nike launching its own “Swoosh on the Run” bra with pockets on the side, front and in January of 2019. The product is no longer available for sale on Nike.com, but it is on numerous other sites including REI, Amazon and Dick’s Sporting Goods.
This, attorneys for the plaintiff contend, continues to harm SherryWear’s ability to profit off its patents.
Goff’s second pitch to Nike in Jan. 17 led to then-VP of global IP transactions & licensing at Nike Paul Saraceni asking Goff to send him a “non-confidential list of IP assets that [SherryWear] had begun to market for sale.”
Goff and Saraceni corresponded through email until March 24, 2017 when Saraceni told Goff Nike would “would respectfully pass on the opportunity.”
Fifty-five days later, Nike filed U.S. patent application 15/597,364, called ‘Bra With Storage Pockets,’” according to the suit, and by the fall of 2017, Nike had hired clothing designer Nicole Rendone to design its own women’s pocket bras.
Upon seeing the Swoosh on the Run bra for sale in January of 2019, Goff emailed Saraceni, writing “Hi Paul, We have spoken in the past, and I do now see at least one product of yours that is infringing on my side panel patent but also my newest back pocket patent that I have a notice of allowance on.”
The suit claims Nike did not to respond to that email, nor cease and desist requests sent in July of 2021 and June 26 of this year.
According to a lawsuit filed by women's wear manufacturer SherryWear, Nike intentionally infringed upon seven of its "Pocket Bra" patents in creating its "Swoosh On The Run" bra.](https://martav.shop/wp-content/themes/vip/pmc-wwd-2021/assets/public/lazyload-fallback.gif)
Fifty-five days later, Nike filed U.S. patent application 15/597,364, called ‘Bra With Storage Pockets,’” according to the suit, and by the fall of 2017, Nike had hired designer Nicole Rendone to conceived its own women’s pocket bras. It eventually marketed products under Swoosh on the Run, Swoosh Bra and Swoosh Pocket Bra.
When she saw the Swoosh on the Run bra for sale early in 2019, Goff fired off an email to Saraceni. “Hi Paul, We have spoken in the past, and I do now see at least one product of yours that is infringing on my side panel patent but also my newest back pocket patent that I have a notice of allowance on,” she wrote.
The lawsuit claims Nike didn’t respond to that email, and cease and desist requests sent in July 2021 and June 26 of this year also went unanswered.
The seven charges in the suit accuse Nike of direct and indirect infringement of patent with three specifying designs for the side pockets and two each for the front and back, marketed first by SherryWear and later by Nike as suitable for holding a smartphone.
Nike did not immediately respond to Sourcing Journal requests for comment.
