Last month, designer Kool KIY filed a counterclaim against Nike after the sneaker and apparel giant sued the designer for ripping off multiple shoe designs. The designer claimed that Nike’s Air Jordan 1 and Dunk trademarks were “invalid and unenforceable” and that his sneakers had been altered enough so that they did not infringe.
Nike lawyers filed a formal response to the counterclaim earlier this week in a New York court where the discredited the originality of Kool KIY’s designs and labeled him a “serial copyist.”
“Kiy is not a ‘cutting-edge design house,’” reads Nike’s response. “There is nothing creative or ‘cutting-edge’ about stealing Nike’s designs and replacing the Swoosh with Kiy’s logo. Rather, Kiy is a serial copyist who has profited from its intentional theft of some of Nike’s most iconic silhouettes. Kiy’s counterclaim, littered with incorrect and irrelevant allegations, is nothing more than an attempt to distract from Kiy’s own willful infringement.”
Kool KIY responded to Nike’s response on IG, saying that Nike is now stealing colorways from him before announcing that a new sneaker is dropping this weekend.
“This The Response I Get From A Multi Billion Dollar Giant … “Serial Copyist” But They Stealing My Ideas & Colorways Now 😂 , More Like Serial Sold Out Tour Dates , Serial Lines In Every City lol… This Black Excellence Man .. Y’all Will Never Discredit This Shit I Built .. Showing Everybody Like Me That We Don’t Need The Man To Make It .. FUCK THAT ! New KIY DROP THIS FRIDAY .. Download Kiy Studios In App Store !”
