Eddie Van Halen is suing Nike for stealing his black, red and white guitar design on their new line of Dunk Lows sneakers. Van Halen has been using this design on his guitars since 1978. His company claims that Nike is using the copyrighted design without "consent, approval or license." Van Halen trademarked his guitar design in 2001 and his company says that Nike is causing "irreparable harm and damage" to his design.Van Halen is suing to recieve all profits made from the sales of Dunk Lows, an end to the production of the shoes and the distruction of all existing shoes. Van Halen had already produced his own shoes featuring his signature design earlier this year.
Nike does not believe that they infringed on Van Halen's company's rights. "Nike's Dunk shoe design is not substantially similar to any of the Van Halen designs, and Nike has not referenced the 'Van Halen' name or image as part of any marketing campaign or promotional material associated with the shoe," a Nike spokesperson said.
