Nike sues owners of Venum
Venum has been one of the prominent apparel brands in the MMA space in the last year or two, but they may have just hit a big problem.
Venum has been one of the prominent apparel brands in the MMA space in the last year or two, but they may have just hit a big problem:
Sports apparel giant Nike has filed suit against the makers of MMA brand Venum for alleged trademark infringement.
Sherdog.com Saturday obtained a copy of the complaint, which was filed Jan. 8 in Oregon District Court and alleges false designation of origin, unfair competition and seeks cancellation of trademarks.
The suit, which names DBV Distribution, Inc., and Dragon Bleu, SARL, as the defendants, alleges that Nike has used and promoted the mark Venom since at least 2002, filing an application for its trademark in 2003, which was registered in 2005.
Nike also alleges that Dragon Bleu registered its trademark for Venum in 2008, several years after Nike received its trademark, and that the mark causes confusion for consumers and injury to Nike’s brand.