Fleet Feet Inc. has filed a lawsuit against Nike over its use of the phrases “Change Everything” and “Running Changes Everything” in advertising. According to reports, Fleet Feet charges that it has trademarked the two phrases and spent substantial resources making those slogans the “cornerstones for its brand.”
“Yet despite that knowledge, Nike in July 2019 launched a national advertising campaign based on the marks SPORT CHANGES EVERYTHING and RUNNING CHANGES EVERYTHING. The first of these Nike marks bears a confusing resemblance to Fleet Feet’s marks, and the second is identical to Fleet Feet’s mark,” said Fleet Feet in court papers.
The suit claims a Nike sales director for North America, sent a note July 22 stating, “Kudos to you guys for using ‘Running Changes Everything.’”
“He then referenced Nike’s new SPORT CHANGES EVERYTHING campaign and remarked that Fleet Feet was ‘ahead of the curve.’”
The suit also charges that in August, Nike’s website featured “Running Changes Everything” phrase. When Fleet Feet complained, Nike swapped “running” with “sport,” the suit added.
Nike said it will not comment on pending litigation.
