Nike Says The Shoe Surgeon Built a Counterfeit ‘Empire’ in New Lawsuit

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Nike is accusing a famous customizer and frequent collaborator of creating an empire built on counterfeit Nike products.

In a suit filed on Monday in the Southern District of New York, the Swoosh alleged that The Shoe Surgeon has attempted “to build an entire multifaceted retail empire” using Nike’s trademark rights by creating and selling counterfeit Nike shoes, and selling classes that teach consumers how to make their own fake Nike shoes. Nike also took issue with The Shoe Surgeon’s common practice of creating “unauthorized collaborations” between Nike shoes and other brands that are not affiliated with or endorsed by Nike.

Nike noted in the suit that it has worked with The Shoe Surgeon on a few one-off commission projects, but the products in question were unrelated to those.

FN has reached out to The Shoe Surgeon for a comment.

In a conversation with FN, Nike said that it tried to resolve the issues with Shoe Surgeon multiple times over the last two years before it eventually took legal action. Nike also noted that despite conversations with The Shoe Surgeon, the customizer continued to scale the business and produce alleged counterfeit products.

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“To safeguard our brand and IP, and aligned with Nike’s commitment to protect the consumer from counterfeit Nike product, we are left with no choice but to seek a legal solution to address how the Shoe Surgeon is constructing counterfeit ‘Nike’ footwear from scratch and selling it as officially branded product,” Nike said in a statement. “Further, the Shoe Surgeon is teaching others to create counterfeit ‘Nike’ sneakers. These activities are illegal, deceive consumers and create confusion in the marketplace around source, authenticity and quality of Nike products.”

Nike added that it has no problem with the customizer’s limited, one-off shoes done in tandem with Nike or for clients under Nike-sponsored athletes’ contracts.

The Los-Angeles, Calif.-based Shoe Surgeon is a custom shoe-making business known for its products that blend various brand elements into one design. For example, the company might take a well-known Nike or Birkenstock silhouette and combine it with materials and identifying marks from brands like Louis Vuitton, Lanvin and Gucci.

Nike is the second brand to take legal action against Shoe Surgeon in the last few weeks. Last month, French fashion label Goyard said in a new lawsuit that The Shoe Surgeon used designs that were identical, indistinguishable from, or confusingly similar to Goyard’s protected designs without the brand’s consent. The designs in question were featured on lighters and shoes sold by The Shoe Surgeon. Nike referenced this lawsuit in its recent filing and said that the infringing Goyard products included fake Nike shoes that also featured Goyard’s protected trademarks and trade dress.

Nike has previously sued several sneaker customizers for trademark infringement and selling counterfeit shoes. In 2021, Nike filed a trademark infringement lawsuit against MSCHF, the company that created and sold a number of “Satan Shoes” in collaboration with Lil Nas X in March. The sneakers were based off the Nike Air Max 97 and ultimately recalled by MSCHF after a settlement agreement was reached that same year.

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