NIKE SUES FORMER DESIGNERS

Original Story: espn.go.com

For years, the world's two largest shoe and apparel companies -- Nike and Adidas -- have battled for supremacy, with the competition occasionally leading to a lawsuit over a particular design or material, which one considers proprietary.

But on Monday, Nike took it to the next level, suing three former designers who had left the company, alleging they used Nike's trade secrets to sell themselves to Adidas. A Portland Intellectual Property Lawyer is reviewing the details of this case.

The lawsuit, filed in the county in Oregon where Adidas has its U.S. headquarters, alleges that some of its biggest designers, Denis Dekovic, Marc Dolce and Mark Miner, while still employees of Nike, began to build a blueprint to replicate Nike's famous Innovation Kitchen and stole secrets from inside its walls to take elsewhere. The Kitchen is where Nike's top designers build out shoes years in advance, testing new materials and concepts. Only a select few on Nike's sprawling campus have access to open its doors.

The lawsuit, which asks for more than $10 million in damages, alleges that before the three left Nike, they were already consulting with Adidas. To further sell themselves and capitalize on their position, Nike says Dekovic had the contents of his laptop duplicated, which gave him access to "thousands of proprietary documents relating to Nike's global football (soccer) product lines" where Adidas and Nike most fiercely battle. A Boston Intellectual Property Lawyer have experience representing clients in intellectual property litigation.

Among other things, the documents included specific designs, including models of team uniforms and products for the 2016 European Championships, plans for Nike-sponsored athletes in at least seven countries, unreleased financial information and projections concerning the company's business and information about Nike's planned launches in the marketplace.

"All of this information is among the most important and highly confidential information in Nike's athletic footwear business, particularly its global football business," the lawsuit reads. "Disclosure of any of this information would irreparably harm Nike, by, among other things, enabling a competitor to effectively undermine and counter Nike's performance in the athletic markets for the next three to four years."

Before leaving the company, Nike alleges the three designers erased emails from their computers and text messages on their phones to destroy any incriminating data that would lead back to their scheme.

"We find Nike's allegations hurtful because they are either false or are misleading half-truths," the designers said in a statement provided to the Portland Business Journal by their law firm. "We did not take trade secrets or intellectual property when we departed Nike in September. The athletic footwear industry is fast moving and rapidly changing and, as creative people, we thrive on innovation and freshness. We are looking forward to bringing new and innovative ideas and designs to Adidas when our non-competition agreement expires." An Atlanta Trade Secrets Lawyer is skilled in the development of trade secret protection programs, buying and selling trade secrets, and licensing trade secrets.

Dekovic was the senior design director for Nike football (soccer), Dolce worked on the shoes for LeBron James and Kobe Bryant and managed historic brands such as the Air Force One and the Dunk shoe and Miner was the senior footwear designer for Nike running, one of the company's biggest growth categories.

Nike says the three had signed a noncompete contract that spanned to September 2015. Yet less than two weeks after the three resigned, Adidas announced that it would back a Brooklyn-based design studio managed by Dekovic, Dolce and Miner.

Even though Adidas said at the time that the three wouldn't work for them until 2015, Nike remained concerned about the trade secrets it claims were stolen from them.

The company says it has spent more than $1.5 million in the past three years alone to ensure that its employees keep information confidential, and said in a statement Tuesday night that "Nike is an innovation company and we will continue to vigorously protect our intellectual property."

Adidas officials did not specifically address the allegations.

"Many of our employees have storied careers and rich experiences, but we have no interest in old work or past assignments as we are focused on shaping the future of the sporting goods industry, not looking at what has been done in the past," the statement said.

Nike's world headquarters in Beaverton and Adidas' U.S. headquarters in Portland are located about 13 miles from each other.

Adidas Aims to Keep Leadership in Golf Market With Radar Analysis of Swing

Bloomberg

 

Adidas AG, the maker of TaylorMade golf clubs, said it plans to maintain its newfound position as the sport’s biggest supplier with the help of computer images and radar systems that analyze players’ swings.

With golf revenue of 860 million euros ($1.05 billion) in the year through March, Adidas achieved global leadership of the $7.5 billion market, Mark King, head of the company’s golf business, said in an interview late yesterday.

To build on its No. 1 position, TaylorMade plans to open centers that allow players to purchase customized clubs after having their swing analyzed with highspeed cameras. The first one opened near Adidas headquarters in Herzogenaurach, Germany, last year and a second will follow in Wentworth, southern England, in September. Adidas also aims to expand its Ashworth apparel brand and seek acquisitions, King said.

“Customers respond to our innovativeness, which helped us to become the global market leader in golf,” King said after playing in a tournament along with Adidas Chief Executive Officer Herbert Hainer and Spanish golfer Sergio Garcia.

Adidas said its golf sales overtook Fortune Brands Inc. after the maker of Titleist balls sold its Cobra unit in April. First-quarter golf revenue rose 16 percent excluding currency swings to 223 million euros, the German company said.

At the Herzogenaurach golf center, six highspeed cameras follow a player’s movements to create a three-dimensional computer-animated swing image. In a second step, a Doppler-radar supported tool follows the golf ball’s flight and reports launch angle, spin rate and initial shot velocity.

Customized Clubs

“After some 120 shots the computer proposes a perfectly customized club,” said Ryan Lauder, TaylorMade marketing chief for the Europe, Middle East and Africa region. Technicians then build a customized set of clubs for the customer within two hours, choosing from 3,000 club shafts and 2,000 heads.

There is currently a six-week waiting list for the analysis, which costs 250 euros, Lauder said. The first center will become profitable within the next three years, he said.

“The major trend in golf is customization, that’s what it’s all about,” King said. About 8 percent of Adidas’s revenue is derived from the sport.

Adidas says it outfits more players than any rival on the world’s top seven professional tours, including the PGA Tour.

“There is an evident relation between the number of outfitted golf professionals and the companies’ sales,” said Peter Steiner, an amateur player and analyst at BHF Bank in Frankfurt. He has a “reduce” rating on Adidas.

Nike, Callaway

Nike Inc.’s golf revenue for the fiscal year ended May 31 was $638 million, a 2 percent decline from the previous year. Callaway Golf Co., the maker of Big Bertha clubs, reported a 15 percent decline in 2009 revenue to $951 million.

Adidas plans to boost sales of its Ashworth apparel brand, which was acquired in 2008, to as much as $250 million from about $60 million within the next six years, King said.

“We have to break traditions in golf, we have to make the sport cooler, we have to make our brand cool,” he said.

TaylorMade’s revenue will be little changed this year, King said, reiterating an earlier forecast. The unit is considering acquisitions, without having specific plans, and is targeting competitors who are strong in the women’s, seniors’ and lifestyle areas, according to King.

“The golf market is a very fragmented one where we may see more acquisitions in the future,” BHF Bank’s Steiner said.