By Chris Littmann
Sports don’t start and end with a referee’s whistle. FirstCuts, a blog dedicated to sports culture, will cover everything outside the lines, from games to gear.
The old commercials for Gatorade had everyone trying to play like Michael Jordan with the slogan “Be Like Mike.†However, the company that carries his name – Jordan Brand – evidently isn’t crazy about that same slogan.
[img=http://i.tsn.com/i/photos/20080331/88275.jpg]
Now Nike, Inc. is putting the clamps on a few companies that want to be like Mike a little too much. First it was Mike 23, Inc. getting slapped with a cease and desist by Nike. Most recently, it was Not for Noth’n – responsible for the Gourmet Sneakers line that took its design cues from some of the most popular Jordans – being sued for violation of an intellectual property patent on March 20 in California Central District Court.
In the case of Gourmet, it’s hard to look at these and not see the Jordan XI. As the article on Murketing.com details, the case of Mike, Inc. is a little more complicated. It’s more of an homage brand – not a counterfeiter trying to pass of his goods as Nike or Jordan Brand. They haven’t done any true copies in the way Gourmet did, but by using the Mike 23 name and the popular silhouette of Jordan himself, they invited a lot of scrutiny.
It might be a coincidence that two legal moves came so closely to one another, but there are a few other brands out there -- particularly Greedy Genius -- who should be on the lookout if this is a sign of things to come.↵
FirstCuts: Be Like Mike, Get Sued
This post originally appeared on the Sporting Blog. For more, see The Sporting Blog Archives.
See More:
