New Balance processes Decathlon for alleged copy of ‘design’

Nthe complaint, filed today in the federal court of Massachusetts (USA), New Balance, based in Boston, accuses the French company Decathlon of having committed a violation of its rights and dilution of the brand, which occurs when a famous brand loses its distinctive character.

The conflict arises due to the design of Decathlon’s Kiprun tennis model, specialized for racing, in which the inverted “K” on the side of the shoe resembles, according to the complaint, the “N” that New Balance uses in its models.

“The defendants (Decathlon) have recently started selling sports shoes with a logo design that infringes and dilutes New Balance’s trademark and consumer law rights,” says the legal document.

The NB claims that it has used “exclusively” the letter “N” in its models since the 1970s and states that the French brand model is “uncertainly an N”.

“New Balance has invested hundreds of millions of dollars in the promotion of its “N” brands and in the establishment of an exclusive association between these brands and New Balance as the origin of the product,” he adds, after stating that the letter is one of the “most valuable assets of the company”.

In legal proceedings, the company requests the federal court to prevent the alleged infringement of its registered trademark rights as well as compensation for damages and losses.

This is not the first time that the Boston-based company has processed other companies because of designs. Previously, it was Michael Kors and Nautica.