The Nike-Warren Lotas legal saga isn't losing steam yet. After Nike filed a lawsuit against the Los Angeles-based designer for his lookalike SB Dunks last Wednesday, Lotas addressed the situation on social media, saying he was investigating the claims and that buyers who already purchased the shoes would still receive them. Now, another filing has surfaced this week that could put an end to Lotas' operation while a final ruling on the lawsuit is decided.
Spotted first by The Fashion Law is a new preliminary injunction filed by Nike this week in U.S. District Court for the Central District of California. In the document, Nike again reiterates its stance that Lotas is peddling designs that bear a mark that is "confusingly similar" to the brand's iconic Swoosh logo as well as "identical trade dress" of the Dunk model specifically. With the injunction, the brand hopes to ensure that none of Lotas' pre-orders are fulfilled—something the designer has been adament about despite the lawsuit.
"If [Warren Lotas] is allowed to flood the market with its fakes, Nike will lose control over its hard-earned reputation, and the goodwill Nike has spent decades building in its trademarks will be damaged," reads the filing. "[Warren Lotas] must be stopped from fulfilling the pre-orders for the infringing sneakers during the pendency of this action."
Nike's injunction is broken up into four different requests. First, as mentioned, the brand is asking that "all persons who are in active concert or participation" with Lotas are prohibited from fulfilling orders for the sneakers. Furthermore, it's looking to block Lotas and his associates from "promoting, offering to sell, selling, and/or taking additional pre-orders" for the infringing designs. Thirdly, Nike is requesting that Lotas hold all of the money he's made thus far on pre-orders in escrow until the lawsuit is settled so that buyers can be refunded if the Swoosh prevails. Nike's final term is that Lotas must respond to the injuction in writing within 30 days.
As of publishing, Lotas has not publicly acknowledged the injuction.
