Nike partially wins patent lawsuit against Lululemon

A verdict has been reached in a long-spanning legal dispute between sportswear giants Lululemon and Nike, with the latter coming out largely on top. According to a public verdict sheet seen by Law360, a New York federal court has awarded Nike 355,450 dollars after concluding that its competitor’s athletic shoes violated patent rights.

A jury deduced that Lululemon’s Chargefeel, Strongfeel and Blissfeel running and training shoes had infringed on Nike’s ‘749 patent associated with certain sneaker structures. Nike was awarded 1.20 dollars for each infringing shoe sold, amounting to an award substantially below the 2.8 million dollars the brand initially sought, which reflected 5 percent of the total sales for the shoes in question.

Jurors rejected three claims that Lululemon’s Chargefeel shoes infringed on Nike’s ‘046 patent linked to a knitted component in its shoes. As such, a spokesperson for the Canadian brand told Law360 that they were “pleased with the outcome of the trial, which confirmed that Lululemon did not infringe on Nike’s ‘046 patent”.

They added “there will be no impact to the company’s current or future footwear products”. Lululemon did confirm to the media outlet, however, that it intends to appeal the ruling on the ‘749 patent.

During the trial, which took place last week, Nike’s attorney claimed that Lululemon was only able to enter the footwear market on the back of similar techniques found in Nike’s ‘Flyknit’ technology. Lululemon maintained that it had not infringed on the patents and instead alleged that it had worked for four years to bring its women’s athletic footwear to the market.

The Patent Trial and Appeal Board is currently reviewing both Nike patents. A decision on the patent believed to be infringed upon by the jury is due in August, while the decision for the other patent will come in May.

This isn’t the only legal dispute Nike and Lululemon have found themselves in. Nike had sued Lululemon back in 2022 claiming that the latter had infringed on certain technology patents for its Mirror Home Gym product. This case is still ongoing.

FashionUnited has contacted Nike with request to comment.

Lululemon has provided FashionUnited with the following statement, attributed to a company spokesperson: “We are very pleased with the outcome of the trial which confirmed that lululemon did not infringe on Nike’s 046 patent and there will be no impact to the company’s current or future footwear products.

"The damages relating to the ruling on patent 749 are nominal and we intend to appeal the decision. We expect the outcome of the pending Patent Trial and Appeal Board review to be successful and invalidate Nike’s patents, overturning the verdict. Most importantly, we remain committed to our footwear business and continuing to provide our guests with the innovative and differentiated lululemon footwear offerings they know, love, and trust.”