New Balance Sue Steve Madden Over 327 Design Infringement

Footwear brand Steve Madden has been exposed in a new lawsuit filed by New Balance, which claims that the brand’s ‘Chasen’ model infringes on the design of the New Balance 327.

According to New Balance, the Chasen ‘deliberately copied [the] patent-protected 327 model sneaker and traded off [its] design, goodwill and reputation’.

The newly-launched lawsuit was filed on June 7th with the United States Court District of Massachusetts. According to the complaint, Steve Madden is accused of launching the Chasen in late 2020 or early 2021, “specifically to capitalize on and free-ride off of the success that New Balance had achieved.”

Though there appear to be several instances of the infringement, New Balance has championed the Concepts “Cape” collaboration as their reference, with the Steve Madden Chasen pictured in a comparative colorway. According to New Balance, the pair “would cause confusion for consumers, or cause consumers to assume that the shoe is associated with or otherwise sponsored by or affiliated with New Balance.”

Steve Madden also released an alternative version of the Chasen (pictured above) that replaced the stripes with a text-based ‘SM NY90’ logo, but NB says this model still infringes the 327’s distinct knobbly outsole, which is protected by design patents, along with other elements of the shoe.

Stay tuned for further developments.