The sneaker line of former President Donald Trump, 45 Footwear LLC, took legal action against a host of individuals and businesses accused of selling knock-off versions of their products.
According NBC News, the suit, filed in federal court in Arizona, alleges trademarks and copyright claims. The defendants have not been named, however the plaintiffs indicated they will be revealed in upcoming sealed document. However the lawsuit does state the defendants consisted of individuals, unincorporated business associations and business entities largely located outside the United States operating through domestically hosted wesbites.
The plaintiff’s legal team has asked the court to issue an injunction that would halt the defendants from reproducing, advertising or selling the fake kicks. The suit also demands the cessation of the operation of the website connected to the aforementioned sales. The suit also demands the defendants either turn over any profits generated from the alleged trademark violations or pay $2 million for each of occurrence of counterfeiting and $25,000 per each instance og copyright infringement.
The lawsuit states that 45Footwear employed an online fraud investigator who was able to ascertain that the counterfeiters had beat the company to the punch, promoting and selling their spurious products even before the authentic iterations had shipped.
The Trump sneakers were unveiled in February, at SneakerCon in Philadelphia, the gold “Never Surrender”, a gold high-top with a engraved “T” on the side and an American flag design that wraps the top of the heel up to the collar. Despite their $399 sticker price, the 1,000 “Never Surrender” sold out within minutes, with some pairs fetching nearly 5 figures on eBay.. Ten of the pairs, were reportedly autographed by the former President himself.
In addition to the “Never Surrender, there were two other styles- the red “T-Red Wave” and the “Potus 45” in white.
The name, image and likeness of the former president were licensed for the sneakers, the line is not connected to the Trump re-election campaign.
