Nike, Inc. has been sued for trademark infringement by 7-Eleven over the sportswear company’s plans to release a sneaker bearing the signature colors of the convenience store chain.
The lawsuit, filed Wednesday in the northern district of Texas where 7-Eleven is based, alleges that a new Nike Air Max 95 Big Bubble “Sport Green and Safety Orange” style infringes on the store’s tricolor trademarks. The shoes were scheduled to be released on July 11, the same day the chain hosts “7-Eleven Day” and “Free Slurpee Day,” but do not have any official connection to the retailer.
The alleged infringement lies in the coloring of the Air Max 95’s side striping, which is rendered in a red, green and orange combination comparable to the alignment of 7-Eleven’s branding.
“Nike’s infringement is a deliberate and willful effort to associate its footwear with 7-Eleven by copying or imitating the Tri-Color Mark,” the lawsuit reads. “Nike’s misleading practices and misappropriation of 7-Eleven’s Tri-Color Mark likely will cause — and indeed already have caused — confusion among the public and likely will deceive consumers as to the Infringing Footwear’s source, sponsorship, endorsement, or affiliation.”
The retail chain says it “repeatedly” made attempts to resolve the matter with Nike before filing the lawsuit.
Nike Air Max 95 Big Bubble Sport Green and Safety Orange.
Nike
“Nike has shown a callous and malicious disregard for 7-Eleven’s rights,” the filing states. “Nike has thus acted in bad faith, with malicious intent, and in knowing disregard of 7-Eleven’s rights.”
Beyond the similarities in color and the July 11 release date, Nike peppered in other brazen allusions to the retailer including a graphic of store shelves on the insole and a reference to “strolling down to the corner store” in its official product description.
Although the planned Air Max 95 sneakers were not an official collaboration, the two companies had plans to work together on a licensed shoe as recently as 2020. A 7-Eleven x Nike SB Dunk Low sneaker was planned to be released that year for the Summer Olympics in Tokyo but was ultimately canceled after the event was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The canceled 7-Eleven x Nike SB Dunk Low collaboration from 2020.
7-Eleven is now asking the court to prevent Nike from “distributing, marketing or selling” the footwear, award the retail chain monetary damages and reimbursement for legal and attorney fees. It’s also requesting that the Air Max 95 sneakers, along with any advertising and marketing materials, be destroyed.
Nike did not respond to a request for comment.
As of publishing, the Nike Air Max 95 Big Bubble sneakers are no longer being advertised on Nike’s Snkrs app. The lawsuit had an immediate impact on the shoe’s aftermarket value, with prices more than doubling after the new surfaced.
