New Balance Athletics Inc, on Tuesday, June 7, 2022, has filed a case against Steve Madden Ltd at the United States District Court, in the District of Massachusetts. New Balance has filed a case claiming Trademark Infringement, unfair competition, and design patent. According to the case filed by New Balance, Steve Madden has replicated the plaintiffs’ protected and well-recognized 327 model sneakers and has sold a very similar Chasen Model, which is the trademark of new Balance’s design Goodwill and reputation.
The New Balance complaint reads that the success of the 327 silhouette model led the Steve Madden Company to launch its Chasen Model and that’s not all, they have even copied the model’s outsole design, mimicked the diagonal downward stripe and modified the NB’s iconic “N” logo with the Steve Maddens’s “SM NY90” letterings.
New Balance further claimed that the design pattern of Chasen Silhouette is infringing upon the NB’s D9322,755 and D939,813 Design Patents for the sole of the 327 Sneakers.
The complaint read,” It appears that copying the designs of other shoe manufacturers is the standard operating procedure for Madden, and it has been sued for misappropriating the creative designs of competitors more than a dozen times in recent years. This is yet another example of Madden stealing the creative work of its competitors and trading off of their goodwill.”
The Complaint further reads how Steve Madden has been involved in many different lawsuits since 2006. Some of the previous complaints against Madden Includes Companies and labels like Rothy’s, Converse, and Ugg owners Deckers Outdoor Corporation.