Everyone is making NFTs now. Some are doing it completely legally, but the nature of NFTs means that anyone can turn any digital property into a potentially lucrative blockchain entry. Some intrepid speculators decided to craft a batch of NFTs based around Nike sneakers. Without asking the brand first. Nike hasn’t taken that sitting down.
This, as is often the case with large companies, means that lawyers are involved. StockX, a company that resells various sneaker-shaped goods, decided to turn actual, physical pairs of Nike shoes into NFTs. Now they’re heading to court over it.
A new kind of Nike knockoff
StockX has taken a strange approach to its NFTs. Each of the digital… thingies… is tied to an actual pair of sneakers. If you purchase the blockchain entry, the pair of shoes go into the company’s vault. That’s where they will stay, giving the JPG versions actual value. Buyers own the physical shoes, as well as the digital representation, but it’s not clear when they’ll be able to access their kicks. Presumably, actually putting said Nikes onto human feet will ruin the value of the ‘it-totally-exists-in-real-life’ digital equivalent.
Not that it matters. Nike has taken exception to StockX using Nike’s branding to mint these items and sell the resulting NFTs. StockX has apparently sold more than 500 NFTs, which range in price from R6,600 to R152,000. The sneaker and sportswear brand would very much like StockX to stop doing that, and they’re also asking a judge to award unspecified monetary damages.
We’re not sure if this is because Nike is annoyed that someone’s associated the company with NFTs, or if they’ve got their own plans in that direction. It’s possibly the latter. Part of the company’s complaint is that the trademark infringement might confuse customers, an argument that only really flies if there are official Nike NFTs in the pipeline. Heaven help us all.
Source: Reuters