Nike's trademark infringement lawsuit against Los Angeles-based designer Warren Lotas appears to have reached a confidential settlement agreement, according to court documents filed on Friday. The lawsuit, filed in the Central District of California in October, accused Lotas of selling "illegal fakes" of Nike's iconic Dunk sneakers. In the unsigned final judgment, the court upheld that Nike's trademarks around the shoes are enforceable and ordered Lotas to refrain from selling a range of products made to look like Nike's.
A spokesperson for Lotas confirms with Complex today that the lawsuit has been resolved through a settlement, declining to comment further. Nike did not respond to a request for comment.
The Lotas Dunk-lookalike sneakers that gained popularity and notoriety in the last year were a significant source of revenue for the designer, who sold over $10 million worth of them. The shoes copied designs and colorways from Nike's collectible SB Dunk line. The last sneaker of this style Lotas sold was a "Pigeon" pair created in collaboration with Jeff Staple, the creator of the original "Pigeon" Nike SB Dunk from 2005.
After Nike sued him this fall, Lotas tried to give customers who'd pre-ordered his recent shoes a replacement in the form of a new shoe called the Reaper. He's defended his right to distribute that sneaker, which looks significantly less like a Dunk but still shares its overall shape with the Nike shoe. The proposed permanent injunction in the Lotas case bars him from selling a host of Nike-esque items, but the Reaper shoe is not among them.
Lotas indicated that he will continue to sell the Reaper shoe in an Instagram post on Friday, showing an upcoming "Clean Slate" colorway.
"I plan to walk you all through the process of making these so there's complete transparency in what goes into each pair," the designer wrote.
UPDATED 12/11/20 6:12 p.m. ET: Nike confirms to Complex that the lawsuit was resolved via settlement agreement and court judgment.
