Nike is a large multi-national sports company with 700 stores worldwide and offices in more than 40 countries, including the United States. As of 2015, Nike has over 62,000 employees working across the company. The company is headquartered near Beaverton, Oregon, in the Portland metropolitan area. In addition to this, they have a strong social media presence (including around 9 million Twitter followers) and huge purchasing power in the supply chain. They have grown exponentially since their inception.
Named after the Greek Goddess of victory, Nike was founded in 1964 as Blue Ribbon Sports by Bill Bowerman and Phil Knight. Phil Knight was a middle-distance runner from Portland who had trained under his track coach, Bowerman.
In its early days, the company began as a US distributor of Asian shoes before branching into manufacturing and becoming the success that they are today. The company officially became Nike Inc on May 30, 1971.
Nike has acquired and sold several other footwear companies, from Cole Haan in 1988 to Bauer Hockey in 1994. In 2003, Nike paid $309 million to acquire sneaker giant Converse. Several other noteworthy deals took place, but now Nike only owns Converse Inc.
Nike sells an impressive range of products, including shoes, jerseys, shorts, cleats, and base layers for all sports activities. Activities include track, baseball, combat sports, American Football, Ice skating, Lacrosse, and more.
Nike has branched out into more than just sportswear, though. They’ve partnered with Apple Inc to produce the Nike+ product, which can monitor your running performance via a radio device in your shoe, then feed the analytics back to your Apple device. Overall, Nikes’ net worth is estimated to stand at around 32.4 billion dollars. It’s no surprise when you realize that the sportswear giant accounts for over 60% of the athletic shoe market. Nike ranked 89th in the 2018 Fortune 500 list of the largest United States corporations by total revenue.
Nike also launched the Nike foundation, which ”Works to get girls on the international agenda and drive resources to them. The foundation intends to find and support the best programs for girls, including new or innovative ideas which need to be tested and developed.”
Famous Nike Trademarks
Nike has a vast networth in brand assets, including filings registered with the USPTO. Let’s look at some of the most well-known Nike trademarks.
Just do it
The trademark ‘‘just do it’‘ had its first recorded use in 1988 and has since been applied to the following categories:
- Downloadable virtual goods such as computer programs featuring footwear, clothing, headwear, eyewear, bags, sports bags, backpacks, sports equipment, art, toys, and accessories for use online and in online virtual worlds.
- Retail store services featuring virtual goods, namely, footwear, clothing, headwear, eyewear sports bags, backpacks, sports equipment, art, toys, and accessories for use online; online retail store services featuring virtual merchandise, namely, footwear, clothing, headwear, eyewear, bags, sports bags, backpacks, sports equipment, art, toys, and accessories.
- Entertainment services provide online, non-downloadable virtual footwear, clothing, headwear, eyewear, bags, sports bags, backpacks, sports equipment, art, toys, and accessories for use in virtual environments.
- Retail store services and online retail store services featuring apparel, footwear, footwear, headwear, eyewear and accessories, sporting goods and equipment, bags, sports bags, sports and fitness products, and accessories—all-purpose sports bags; Backpacks.
- Clothing such as T-shirts, sweatshirts, and caps.
Nike Swoosh Logo
The Swoosh was officially trademarked on June 18, 1971, and in June 1972, at the US Track and Field Olympic Trials in Eugene, Oregon, Nike’s first official track shoe, the Nike Cortez, was released to the athletes sporting the fresh new Swoosh.
Since then, it has become synonymous with the Nike brand, and Nike filed various trademark applications with the US Patent and trademark office. The trademark covers areas such as:
- Sports bags, duffle bags, messenger bags, tote bags, gym bags, drawstring bags, waist bags.
- Football shoes, headwear, sweatbands, sweaters, skirts, dresses, gloves, athletic uniforms, athletic tights, compression sleeves, skirts, belts made of leather, and leather imitations.
- Golf paraphernalia includes golf clubs, balls, gloves, club grips, golf bags, golf t-shirts, head coverings for golf clubs, golf ball markers, and other golfing accessories.
- Eyeglasses and eyeglass frames.
- Computer software (particularly in the field of health and fitness) is used to store and organize digital music, create custom CDs, download digital music from the internet, build and transfer playlists, log fitness data, create workout schedules and goals, download data (from watch to a computer).
- Watches and stopwatches.
- Earplugs for swimming.
- Kickboards and other swimming accessories.
Air Jordan
Air Jordan is a brand of basketball shoes created by Nike for NBA superstar Michael Jordan. The first use was in 1984, and since then, the trademark has been expanded to cover various areas, including;
- Downloadable virtual goods, including video games, computer programs featuring digital products, footwear, clothing, headwear, eyewear, bags, sports bags, backpacks, sports equipment, art, toys, and accessories.
- Retail store services featuring footwear, clothing, headwear, eyewear, sports bags, backpacks, sports equipment, art, toys, and accessories for use online; online retail store services featuring virtual merchandise, namely, footwear, clothing, headwear, eyewear, bags, sports bags, backpacks, sports equipment, art, toys, and accessories.
- Entertainment services include non-downloadable virtual footwear, clothing, headwear, eyewear, bags, backpacks, and other accessories for use in virtual environments.
Air Force One
Air Force One was the first shoe in the Nike range to use Nike Air max technology. They were launched in 1982, and the trademark for air force one includes the following:
- Footwear, shoes, sportswear.
- Clothing, such as hats, caps, sweaters, and more.
Cryptokicks
Since the beginning of the pandemic, Nike has been working on technology that will allow NFT’s to be linked to shoes and tracked via the blockchain. Nike may eventually launch their cryptocurrency. The trademark was approved in 2020 and covered the following:
- Recorded and downloadable software for a cryptocurrency wallet, cryptocurrency hardware wallets, and blank USB flash drives. Downloadable software for electronically trading, storing, accepting, and transmitting digital currency.
- Downloadable anti-piracy software, downloadable computer software for encryption and decoding, computer graphics software, graphical user interface software.
- Mobile applications for use as a cryptocurrency wallet, managing cryptocurrency transactions using blockchain technology.
- Providing a marketplace, offering marketplace services for buyers and sellers of digital currency assets, operating an online marketplace featuring clothing and footwear.
- Financial services, including providing a digital currency or digital token for members of an online community via a global computer network.
- Facilitation of financial transactions using unconventional currency systems and bartering, namely, facilitating transfers of electronic cash equivalents.
- Electronic bulletin board services provide online forums for transmitting messages among users and provide online chat rooms and message boards.
- Online blogs in the field of cryptocurrency collectibles.
- Online computer games, entertainment services, curated scavenger hunts, obstacle courses, and other interactive games relating to crypto-collectible customization for hobbies and entertainment.
- Providing online computer software for use as a cryptocurrency wallet.
Wrapping up
Nike is a multi-billion dollar corporate giant with an impressive history and portfolio of assets. Part of its assets is its remarkable amount of intellectual property. If you don’t register a trademark with the USPTO, your branding and business reputation are on the line. A competitor could take your branding, and you would have no legal recourse. Nike understands this importance, as they own over 200 trademarks, including dozens of different virtual goods’ trademarks.
