Claiming Nike had stolen his design for a vented cap, Gerald Kellogg sued the company for patent infringement in 2007, seeking between $2 million and $8 million. A federal jury in Omaha has found the suit in favor of Nike, saying that Kellogg’s and Nike’s hat designs were not enough alike to constitute infringement.
Kelloggs lawsuit said that he had applied for a patent on the hat design in 1997 and then presented it to Nike, who was not interested. It then claims that in 2002 a Nike employee applied for a patent on a nearly identical design and began selling the caps soon thereafter.
According to his attorney, Kellogg plans to ask the court to overturn the jury’s verdict and issue damages.
