Business has been booming in the world of non-fungible tokens (NFTs), but lawsuits have been filed over them as of late.
On Feb. 3, Nike sued StockX, an online marketplace, for selling unauthorized NFTs of Nike sneakers, according to Reuters.
According to the outlet, the federal complaint includes that the actions of StockX started in January of selling over 500 Nike-branded NFTs with “inflated prices and murky terms of purchase and ownership.”
“Nike did not approve of or authorize StockX’s Nike-branded Vault NFTs,” the complaint reads. “Those unsanctioned products are likely to confuse consumers, create a false association between those products and Nike, and dilute Nike’s famous trademarks.” Nike is also accusing StockX of telling buyers they would be able to redeem the tokens for physical versions of the shoes “in the near future.”
The sneaker giant’s intent for filing the lawsuit is for StockX to no longer sell or promote its Vault NFTs that use its trademarks, as well as for the NFTs to be destroyed and for the online reseller to pay for its damages suffered.
The legal battle comes ahead of its virtual products that are on the way to the metaverse in February after acquiring RTFTK — a virtual sneaker company — in December 2021.
Recent NFT Lawsuit
AfroTech previously shared that Lil Yachty filed a trademark infringement lawsuit against Opulous, an artist-focused NFT platform. According to the rapper, the company “maliciously” used his name and likeness without his permission, yet made a profit of $6.5 million.
“Of course, it is axiomatic that in order to offer the ownership interest to any musician’s copyrighted work, defendant, Opulous, must first have the agreement and consent of the musician at issue to sell the copyright to his or her work, with the musician in turn entitled to a share of the proceeds from the sale thereof,” the lawsuit filed in federal court in Los Angeles states.
