Nike filed a breach of contract lawsuit against three former designers
who plan to join Adidas to build a new creative studio coming to
Brooklyn, NY in 2015.
As reported in September, the designers,
Denis Dekovic, Marc Dolce and Mark Miner iwill join Adidas next year to
lead the the Brooklyn Creative Design Studio and manage a small team of
cross-discipline creatives. Overall, the global studio will serve as a
cultural contact point in the most influential city in the U.S.,
connecting the brand closely with sports and street culture.
According
to Nikes 50-page civil complaint filed in Multnomah County Circuit
Court, Nike accuses the three designers of breach of contract, breach of
duty of good faith and fair dealing, breach of duty of loyalty,
misappropriation of trade secrets, tortious interference with current
and prospective contractual and economic relations, and civil
conspiracy. It seeks up to $10 million in damages.
Nike claims
the trio hatched their plan last April with plans to build a consultant
business and then pitched Adidas on a design studio that would help
build products. It also said stole “a treasure trove of Nike product
designs, research information and business plans” to provide Adidas
information about Nike’s plans for the next few years in its running,
sportswear and soccer lines.
The plans for the studio were
essentially for a knockoff of Nike’s own design lab, called the Kitchen,
according to the complaint.
A comprehensive follow-up by The Oregonian is here.
