The war between Nike and adidas has been raging for decades now, with each vying for supremacy in the sports retail sector. Now a new battle in the war is set to take place, with Nike filing a complaint to the US International Trade Commission to stop adidas from selling Primeknit products in the United States.
Nike have Flyknit, adidas have Primeknit. Nike debuted Flyknit at the 2012 London Summer Olympics after what they say was more than a decade of research and development at a cost of over $100 million, while adidas, on the other hand, said in the past that they developed Primeknit for three years before its release, which came four months after Nike released Flyknit. A sticky situation, for sure, but one that could be costly for the Three Stripes if the ruling goes against them.
It’s hardly like this has just started though. Back when adidas pitched Primeknit sneakers as a ‘first of its kind’ design, Nike responded with a patent infringement lawsuit. Nike won the suit and adidas were ordered to cease selling Primeknit tech. However, the Three Stripes then moved to challenge the originality of Flyknit based on a similar patent from 1991, which allegedly rendered Nike’s claim void. adidas lost the suit, but won another one by claiming that technology needed to make knitted sneakers has been available since the 1940s; the go-ahead was given to continue producing Primeknit. But that wasn’t enough for adidas, who filed an appeal in federal court to strip Nike of their Flyknit patent. That failed and so it’s now Nike’s turn.
“Unlike Nike, adidas has forgone independent innovation,” Nike said in a court filing. “Instead, adidas spent the past decade unsuccessfully challenging several of Nike’s patents directed to FlyKnit technology – all while using Nike’s patented technology without permission.”
In response, Mandy Nieber, an adidas spokeswoman, said: “Our Primeknit technology resulted from years of dedicated research and shows our commitment to sustainability.” Clearly this one’s not going to go away anytime soon, and the end results could be huge for the future of sports wear.
Some of the key pieces to currently feature Primeknit are the adidas by Stella McCartney Ultraboost, Pharrell Williams Superstar Primeknit Shoes, Terrex Free Hiker hiking shoes, and of course the Predator Freak, which utilises the technology in the collar. Primeknit was an essential ingredient in the race to produce the first effective laceless performance football boot, which Adidas did with the ACE 16+ Purecontrol.
According to Matt Powell, a senior advisor for the NPD Group, if the US International Trade Commission do block imports of adidas shoes with Primeknit, the German brand could lose around $800 million worth of sneakers that feature the technology in the US alone in one year. Needless to say that the damage for the whole brand could have devastating consequences.
Interesting to see how this one plays out, but is it the end of the Flyknit vs Primeknit battle? Not likely...
