StockX File Official Response to Nike's Authentication Claims

As Nike and StockX's court battle over NFTs and product authentication drags on, StockX have filed an official legal response to Nike's claim that they sell inauthentic products. Submitted to the Southern District court of New York today, June 6, 2022, the response rebuffs Nike's claims that they have purchased inauthentic shoes through StockX – and even states that the Swoosh wanted to collaborate with StockX on their authentication process in the past.

'While counterfeiting is rampant through other third-party marketplaces, StockX revolutionized the industry by creating a process in which 100% of products on its platform are authenticated by trained human authenticators before they are sent to the buyer,' the claim states.

When Nike first brought legal action against StockX back in February, it was over the use of their protected IPs in StockX's 'Vault' series of NFTs. In May, however, Nike requested to expand their original trademark infringement claim against StockX to include 'counterfeiting and false advertising' as they claimed to have purchased four pairs of inauthentic shoes from the company. Per StockX's rebuttal, this more was only '[made] after Nike's lawsuit against StockX's Vault NFTs failed to gain traction or win over public sentiment.'

The rebuttal goes on to mention that StockX have spent millions of dollars on bolstering their authentication process and that their team of 300 trained authenticators have prevented over $60 million in counterfeit sneakers from reaching buyers. It also says that Nike's previous legal filing lacked any details about the alleged counterfeit shoes that the brand's employees purchased from StockX.

The biggest bit of news in the statement, however, is a claim that Nike not only expressed confidence in StockX's authentication processes in the past but that they even sought to collaborate with StockX on authentication efforts. A section in the statement says that Nike invited StockX to join an anti-counterfeiting council spearheaded by the US Department of Homeland Security, and that Nike's Brand Protection Director of Authentication and Innovation said the two parties were 'aligned on ensuring consumers only recieve authentic product' back in 2020.

The entire response to Nike's complaint runs a whopping 122 pages, and can be read here if you're so inclined. We'll be sure to update you when the next salvo is fired – this battle between titans doesn't seem like it'll be ending any time soon!