Nike
and Adidas, sports brand leader
Nike
and Adidas are leading sports brand markets. Forbes, the economic magazine in
the United States, ranked Nike on 14th and Adidas on 61st in the world brand
rankings in 2019. Looking at the market share of global sports brands in 2017,
Nike is 40% and Adidas is 23%. Although it is a big difference in the North
American market (48% for Nike, 8% for Adidas), it is not big gap for Europe
(37% for Nike, 28% for Adidas) and Asia (27% for Nike, 24% for Adidas).
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| 🔺 pixabay.com |
Lighter
shoes! Knitted textile shoes
All
sporting goods manufacturers have been trying to make lighter sneakers. Nike
has also been researching for a long time to make shoes that are lightweight
and comfortable to wear. In the 1980s, the 'Sock Racer' running
shoe, which was named because it was similar to a sock, was released, but it
failed due to its lack of durability. Since then, similar attempts have been
made, but the vulnerabilities have not been solved. Since then, Nike has formed
a team developing flyknit to solve the problem of durability, and in 2012,
launched the Flyknit running shoe, which is lighter and more comfortable to
wear.
The
'FlyKnit' technology, in which lightweight fibers are woven like knit-sweaters
without stitching the upper part of the shoe, that enables a customized method
through computer control, reduce manufacturing time and minimiz the loss of
fabric generated during manufacturing. . Adidas also launched a 'Prime knit'
running shoe made of lightweight fibers in 2012. Adidas, a latecomer at the
time, competed with quality to target the market. They insisted that Prime
knit’s quality is better because it is produced by hand only in Germany, while
Flyknit is commissioned in a third country, not in the United States. In
addition, they open the process of making shoes to increase confidence in
quality.
 |
| 🔺 flickr.com |
Nike
vs. Adidas, knit textile technology patent dispute
The
technology for making flyknit was filed in 2004, which was titled 'Article of
footwear having a textile upper'. After filing an divisional application under
the same name in 2011, it was registered in September 2012. Five months later,
Adidas launched a Primeknit product made with technology similar to Flyknit.
Afterwards, Adidas demanded IPR (Inter Partes Review) against the Nike for the
issue of creativity of the flyknit patent to US PTAB (Patent Trial and Appeal
Board) in 2016. |
| 🔺 wipsglobal.com Nike's patent about flyknit |
What
is the result of the IPR (Inter Partes Review)?
In
the IPR, the US PTAB judged that Nike's patent had no problem with its creativity. Creativity
refers to inventive step of the technology showing the inventor’s creative
abilities., and Adidas claimed that anyone in the industry of the corresponding
technology could come up with the same idea, but was not accepted. Adidas appealed
without approving the decision. On the 6/25, the US Court of Appeals rejected
the appeal by ruling that the decision of the PTAB was fine. Eventually, Adidas'
counterclaim against Nike in 2016 ended with Nike's victory.
 |
| 🔺 wipsglobal.com > Trial search IPR of Adidas v. Nike |
A
growing market, Nike’s response?
In
2018, Nike filed a patent infringement lawsuit against Puma. There were five
patent related to flyknit technology out of the eight issued patents. The
lawsuit was ended by Nike’s withdrawal but the patent dispute related to the
corresponding technology is expected to increase in the future. This is
because with the advent of fly knit technology, many sports and outdoor brands
have begun to launch knitted sports shoes.
 |
| 🔺 wipsglobal.com > Litigation search Nike v. Puma |
According
to a study by Textile Today, an American textile magazine, the global knit
footwear market, which was worth $2 billion in 2017, is expected to grow to
$3.2 billion in 2025. As the growing market, I wonder how Nike will respond to
protect its rights.
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