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The Nike vs. Kool Kiy legal saga continues.
On November 30, 2022, the Swoosh filed a lawsuit against Kool Kiy and Omi in a Hellcat for trademark infringement on the designs from both creatives on resemblance to the Air Jordan 1.
Nike’s legal team claims to have notified Kiy of the alleged infringement complaints last year on August 6, 2021. Nike then attempted to reach a resolution with By Kiy LLC, but an agreement was unsuccessful.
The Swoosh’s lawyers also warned Omi with a similar complaint on October 5, 2022. The document sent to Omi stated that Reloaded Merch LLC had one week to contact Nike’s lawyers to remedy the infringement complaints or that the brand would face a federal lawsuit.
Even after the individual warnings, Nike’s lawsuit alleges that both Kiy and Omi continued on with business as usual and kept selling the infringing designs.
Following the initial lawsuit, Kool Kiy filed a counter lawsuit stating that customers want a product different from the “norm” and that Kool Kiy’s registered Lightning Bolt trademark logo does not resemble the Nike Swoosh.
Nike responded to the counter lawsuit by claiming Kool Kiy as a “serial copyist who has profited from its intentional theft of some of Nike’s most iconic designs” in the Air Jordan 1.
Kool Kiy responded to Nike’s claim stating that the brand steals “his ideas and colorways.”
Keep it locked on Snkrs Day on Instagram as the story develops.
