Nike's lawsuit against three former designers who joined Adidas to build a new creative studio in Brooklyn has been quietly settled.
Markowitz
Herbold attorney Matt Levin, who represented the designers, said in a
statement to the press, “The case was resolved through a confidential
settlement.”
The case had been scheduled for a trial from June 22 to 26.
As
reported in September 2014, the designers, Denis Dekovic, Marc Dolce
and Mark Miner, joined Adidas in 2015 to lead the the Brooklyn Creative
Design Studio and manage a small team of cross-discipline creatives.
Nike
had claimed in its lawsuit filed in December 2014 that 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.
Nike charged the designers with 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. The lawsuit asked for $10 million in damages and the immediate return or destruction of Nike trade secrets.
All three designers have denied the allegations ever
since it was brought to their attention. Adidas, which was not a party
in the lawsuit, declined to comment on the eventual settlement. Nike has
also not commented further.
