New Balance Sues Steve Madden For Seemingly Copying Its Sneaker Design
Concepts x New Balance ‘Cape’ (left) VS Steve Madden’s ‘Chasen’ (right). Images via Concepts and Steve Madden / Amazon
Do these sneakers look the same to you? New Balance thinks they’re so blatantly alike, that it’s taken legal action against fellow American footwear brand Steve Madden, citing that the latter “deliberately copied” its patented 327 sneakers to “free-ride” off New Balance’s success.
In doing so, Steve Madden jeopardized New Balance’s “design, goodwill, and reputation,” New Balance adds.
In a lawsuit filed at the United States Court District of Massachusetts on Tuesday, New Balance named Steve Madden’s Chasen sneaker to have infringed on the intellectual property of the Cape shoe that New Balance designed with luxury sportswear label Concepts.
Not only are the colorways alike, but they also feature similar motifs that would be confusing for customers, New Balance alleged. For instance, one version of the Steve Madden Chasen had two parallel diagonal lines at the sides, as if outlining the letter ‘N’ seen across New Balance’s 327 line.
Although Steve Madden launched another iteration that swapped out the stripes for the text “SM NY90,” New Balance also pointed to the knobby outsole, which it said was a patented design too.
New Balance released the popular 327 lineup in 2020.
Image via Concepts
Meanwhile, Steve Madden debuted the Chasen later that year or in early 2021.
Image via Steve Madden / Amazon
New Balance took Steve Madden to court for fear of causing further confusion between consumers or being mistakenly associated with the other brand, it wrote in its legal documents.
[via Sneaker Freaker and Footwear News, images via various sources]
