Sneaker giant Nike sued online reseller StockX in New York federal court on Thursday for selling unauthorized images of Nike shoes, marking the latest lawsuit over digital assets known as non-fungible tokens.
Nike said StockX鈥檚 NFTs infringe its trademarks and are likely to confuse consumers. Its lawsuit asked for unspecified money damages and an order blocking their sales.
Detroit-based StockX, a platform for reselling sneakers, handbags and other goods, was valued at more than $3.8 billion last year.
A representative for the company did not respond to a request for comment, nor did Nike or its attorneys.
Nike said StockX last month began selling unauthorized NFTs of its sneakers, telling buyers they would be able to redeem the tokens for physical versions of the shoes 鈥渋n the near future.鈥�
The complaint said StockX has sold over 500 Nike-branded NFTs. The lawsuit said complaints about the NFTs鈥� 鈥渋nflated prices and murky terms of purchase and ownership鈥� and buyers鈥� doubts about the legitimacy of StockX鈥檚 model have hurt Nike鈥檚 business reputation.
Nike said it will release 鈥渁 number of virtual products鈥� later this month in conjunction with the digital art studio RTFKT, which it acquired in December.
NFTs have recently exploded in popularity, and lawsuits over them have begun to hit US courts. Miramax sued director Quentin Tarantino in November over his plans to auction NFTs related to the 1994 film 鈥淧ulp Fiction,鈥� which he directed and the studio distributed.
Last month, Hermes sued artist Mason Rothschild over his 鈥淢etaBirkin鈥� NFTs of the French company鈥檚 Birkin bags.