7-Eleven sues Nike over new Air Max 95s set for July 11 release

7-Eleven found something a little too familiar about the new orange, green, and red-striped Nike sneakers set to be released next week, and the convenience store chain is asking a federal court to do something about it. 

Big picture view:

7-Eleven filed a lawsuit against the shoemaker, claiming that the upcoming Air Max 95 shoe is a "confusingly similar imitation" of its world-famous colors, according to Reuters. Additionally, the lawsuit notes, the shoes are scheduled to be released on July 11, a date the company promotes as "7-Eleven Day" in its convenience stores.

What they're saying:

"Nike deliberately intends to deceive consumers into believing that the Infringing Footwear is connected, associated, or affiliated with 7-Eleven to trade on 7-Eleven’s valuable goodwill," the plaintiffs wrote in their filing. 

The backstory:

7-Eleven indicated that the company reached out to Nike to resolve the issue, but stated that the shoemaker told them that it was going to keep advertising the shoes and would move forward with their planned launch.

In its lawsuit, 7-Eleven points out that it has used orange, green, and red as parts of its signage and branding for years and owns multiple trademarks around the design. It alleges that Nike wanted to mislead customers and misappropriate its "Tri-Color Mark" to cause confusion and take advantage of the goodwill that 7-Eleven has built.

What's next:

If it wins, 7-Eleven is asking the court to prevent Nike from selling, promoting, or advertising the shoes and to order the shoemaker turn over all the ones that have been made along with related materials, among other remedies.

As of Monday, the shoes were not posted on Nike's launch website.

 

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