Sick and tired of seeing brands blatantly copying their Chuck Taylor sneakers, Converse fights back with lawsuits to 31 companies.
If there’s one sneaker silhouette that’s closely followed by other brands, it’s probably the Converse Chuck Taylor. First produced in 1917, Chuck Taylors have stood the test of time and become Converse’s iconic sneaker line. They’ve also been replicated by many other companies, among them Fila, Ed Hardy and Skechers.
For a long time now, Converse has done little about this, serving about 180 cease-and-desist letters since 2008 which were probably ignored. But that changes today. They’ve had enough of see core elements of Chuck Taylors being blatantly copied, and are taking action. Converse is accusing 31 companies of trademark infringement through the 22 separate lawsuits it filed in Brooklyn’s United States District Court, along with a separate complaint to the International Trade Commission.
It looks to be a long, hard fight, but there’s much profit to be gained back if the Chuck Taylor lookalikes are taken off the shelf. Consumers would also benefit from shelling out money for the real deal, and these so-called sneaker brands that infringed on Converse can finally work on creating some original silhouettes.