NFT Becomes Cuan And Case Warehouse, Nike Sues StockX For Selling Illegal Products

Nike sues StockX for selling unauthorized products via NFT. (photo: doc. unsplash)

JAKARTA - Sports shoe and sneakers giant Nike sued online retailer StockX in New York federal court on Thursday, February 3, for selling unauthorized images of Nike shoes. This marks the latest lawsuit over digital assets such as NFTs known as non-exchangeable tokens.

Nike says NFT StockX infringes on its trademark and tends to confuse consumers. The lawsuit seeks unspecified monetary damages and an injunction blocking their sale.

Detroit-based StockX, a platform for reselling sneakers, handbags and other goods, was worth more than $3.8 billion last year.

Representatives of the StockX company did not respond to a request for comment from Reuters, nor did Nike or its lawyers.

Nike previously said StockX last month started selling unofficial NFTs of its sneakers, as well as notifying shoppers that they will be able to exchange tokens for physical versions of the shoes "in the near future." The complaint also says StockX has sold more than 500 Nike-branded NFTs.

The lawsuit says complaints about "inflated prices and dismal purchase and ownership terms" and buyer doubts about the legitimacy of the StockX model have damaged Nike's business reputation.

Nike said it would release "a number of virtual products" later this month along with digital art studio RTFKT, which it acquired in December last year.

NFTs have recently exploded in popularity, and lawsuits against them, have even started hitting US courts. Miramax sued director Quentin Tarantino in November over his plans to auction off NFT related to the 1994 film "Pulp Fiction", which he directed and distributed by the studio.

Last month, Hermes sued artist Mason Rothschild over his NFT "MetaBirkin" from the French company's Birkin bag.