Nike's Appeal Rejected
October 13, 1999By GREG STOHR Bloomberg News
WASHINGTON Nike Inc. Supreme Court appeal aimed at giving brand name manufacturers more power men's nike air max 2015 running shoes to win big damages from companies that sell look alike versions of popular products.
The justices left intact a lower court decision cutting the amount Nike won in a lawsuit against Wal Mart Stores Inc. and supplier Hawe Yue Inc. from $6 million to $1.4 million.
The lower court ruling, which will control patent cases around the country, hurts apparel makers, computer companies and other owners of product design patents. The appeals court Womens Nike Air Max 2015 said infringers can keep some of the profits they made if copied products weren't all marked with the patent number.
That will reduce damage awards to companies in fast changing industries, which frequently start producing new products before patent examiners finish their work and patent numbers can be affixed.
"You can't change your marking procedures fast enough," said Mark T. Banner, a lawyer representing Nike at the high court. "You're halfway through production by the time the patent office gets through with the patent."
Nike began producing its Air Mada Mid, a hiking shoe, in 1994, three months before receiving patent protection for the shoe's design. The world's largest maker of athletic Cheap Nike Air Max shoes sued Wal Mart and Hawe Yue for patent infringement in 1996 after they began selling shoes that were almost identical in appearance. The two companies each sold more than 500,000 pairs of knockoff shoes.