Update (04/20)
Court documents claim that Nike has yet to provide documents that StockX sells fake sneakers.
In a turn of events, it seems like Nike has failed to present documents to the court that prove StockX is selling counterfeit sneakers. According to court documents that were published on April 7th, 2023.
"The Court is left with the possibility that Nike has not complied with its obligations because it is narrowly interpreting the Court’s directive to search for and produce documents related to secondary visual inspections as limited to the team that ultimately identifies counterfeit shoes. For the avoidance of doubt, Nike must produce documents it uses, creates, or distributes that describe or identify possible “tells” of counterfeit products, even if the purpose of these materials is not to assist in an inspection by the reviewer but to trigger a more fulsome investigation by Nike."
The lawyers representing StockX are aggressively pushing for Nike to provide some sort of concrete evidence to back up their claims. StockX also issued a statement on the matter.
"We are pleased with the Court’s decision on this matter and look forward to reviewing the relevant documentation from Nike. We remain confident in our legal defenses and stand by our verification process as one of the first and best in the industry." According to StockX Nike also failed to provide discovery documents on March 17th, 2023.
Nike claims that between March and July 2022 StockX authenticated 38 pairs of Nike shoes to a reseller who has yet to be reviled. The court documents that have been revealed black out the name of the reseller amongst other important information. We more then likely wont get to see the documents in full until the case in concluded, but we do have updates about the situation at hand.
Back in July of 2022 Nike caught wind of a reseller who claimed to have received 38 pairs of fake sneakers from secondary marketplace StockX. Nike paid the man a visit and concluded that the shoes were in fact counterfeit. Nike decided not to confiscate the pairs so the customer could return them to StockX for a full refund. StockX's current Buyer Promise Policy was last updated in November of 2022 states “an order is created and we are unable to offer returns, exchanges, or swaps. You can always resell the item on our platform if you no longer wish to keep it.” This policy may have been bi-passed when the seller informed StockX that the shoes were fake, offering him a full refund.
The reseller in question spoke to @Sockjig, a respected figure in sneaker community, to give the people a little more insight into the situation. He purchased multiple pairs of the Air Jordan 1 High OG Mocha, Air Jordan 1 OG University Blue, and the Air Jordan 1 High OG Hyper Royal. There was no comment on the total amount of pairs he purchased, but he did mention that 38 pairs turned out to be fugazi. The reseller purchased the pairs in between the months of March and July of 2022, in hopes that the prices would jump and he would accumulate profit.
Nikes Interest In NFTS
The whole fiasco ties back to an ongoing lawsuit between Nike and StockX, Nike is accusing StockX of infringing on its trademarks and causing confusion in the market with its NFT program. The program enables customers to redeem the NFT shoe for a physical version, an NFT, or non-fungible token, is a digital asset that represents ownership of a unique item or piece of content, such as a piece of art, music, or even a tweet. The sudden fixation by Nike on StockX's NFT model is likely due to Nike investing into the metaverse. In December of 2021, Nike acquired RTFKT, a digital creator of virtual sneakers, collectibles, and accessories. Along with this Nike also filed 7 trademarks to be able to sell virtual sneakers and apparel. Nike goes on to claim that StockX's claim of being "99.95% authentic" is unfounded because the platform is unable to prove the authenticity of the sneakers it sells.
StockX Responds
Nike's claims can be justified by the public, with many customers complaining to StockX on Twitter about receiving counterfeit sneakers. Many in the space have also mentioned the amount of times StockX claims that a sellers shoes are fake, even though the clients provide proof of purchase. As of now there’s no telling how the situation will unfold, in the midst of the allegations StockX has since provided a statement. "While we can’t comment on pending litigation, we are confident in our legal defenses and have continuously supplied appropriate information in a timely manner. We stand by our verification process as one of the first and best in the industry, and in 2022 alone, rejected more than 330K products worth nearly $100M." "StockX also has a Buyer Promise in place, which is central to our mission of offering a safe and secure marketplace for both buyers and sellers. If we make a mistake and incorrectly verify an item, we’re committed to making it right for our customers."
The case in question will likely drag on for some time, in the meantime we'll keep you updated as the case develops. For all the legal battles in the sneaker industry, and to stay up to date with the latest sneaker news and releases, connect with on Instagram and Twitter.
Photo via Sockjig