By Enes Morina


Nike suffered a setback in its bid to trademark the capitalized version of the word "footware" for tech-related products after a European Union court upheld a complaint from German rival Puma.

The General Court of the European Union, the bloc's second-highest, effectively dismissed Nike's trademark application and ordered the world's biggest shoemaker to pay legal costs in Puma's favor.

Nike may appeal the decision from the General Court to the EU's highest court, the European Court of Justice. The U.S. company didn't respond to a request for comment.

A Puma spokeswoman said the company welcomed the ruling since Puma has long argued that at least some consumers would misread the term "footware" as "footwear" and "therefore will only see the sign 'footware' as descriptive information," a product category that can't be trademarked.

The Oregon-based sportswear giant sought to use "footware", a play on words between "foot" and "software" or "hardware," for a range of tech-related products.

The court's decision follows a series of legal tussles with rival sportswear manufacturers after Nike filed trademark applications for the term in the U.S., the U.K. and Europe in 2019.

In mid-2021, Nike won out against Puma after the U.K. High Court granted the trademark, despite the latter's complaint that "footware" could mislead some consumers. The German sportswear manufacturer had argued that the label would be seen by the public as a misspelling of "footwear," rather than a product name in its own right.

Earlier this year, the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board halted Nike's attempt at a trademark in the U.S.

The decision came after a complaint from San Antonio Shoemakers, an American sneaker manufacturer, which argued the term was merely descriptive, as the words "footware" and "footwear" were often used interchangeably to refer to shoes.


Write to Enes Morina at enes.morina@wsj.com


(END) Dow Jones Newswires

06-12-24 1129ET