Despite the positivities that the BAPE STA brought to the sneaker industry, it paved the way for up-and-comers to rip off Nike’s famed designs for their own benefit. This came to a head in recent times with Warren Lotas, who was forced to scrap several Dunk-inspired designs to avoid a costly, crippling lawsuit. Still, there are countless “homages” to their designs, from Fugazi to the Shoe Surgeon — both of which prefer the legendary Peter Moore-designed Air Jordan 1.
Though there has been some legal grey area surrounding designs like these, the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office has now made it black and white: the Air Jordan 1 is off-limits. Yes, Nike, Inc. has officially trademarked three of their most iconic models: the Air Jordan 1, Air Jordan 1 Low OG, and Air Jordan 1 Low. Historically – for any brand — it’s been difficult to trademark physical designs, but through arguably lengthy discussions (and a large legal bill) Nike has finally secured peace of mind.
But just where this leave the bootleg designers? Who knows. Nike has been known to pick and choose its battles — i.e. giving The Shoe Surgeon free reign, whilst chasing down Lotas. All that we do know is that Nike now has a legally binding, enforceable trademark that will undoubtedly make up-and-comers think twice about tackling Mike’s debut signature sneaker — Unless it’s the Mid, which was humorously left off the trademark application.
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