NIKE settles $18 million trademark dispute with ex-NFL star Shawne Merriman

Sports conglomerate Nike and Shawne Merriman, retired San Diego Chargers Linebacker, both filed a joint motion to dismiss the lawsuit filed by Merriman in 2014 over the company's alleged violation of his "Lights Out" trademark.  

TMZ gives the details of the case.  Merriman spun off another career using his professional name "Lights Out" into a clothing line with the same brand.  When Nike created its own "LIghts Out" clothing brand, Merriman sued it for trademark violation.  He was asking  for more than $18 million in damages.  

The two recently buried the hatchet and filed a joint petition to dismiss the case. An insider said that both are on very good terms.  Merriman issued the following statement following the peittion: "Nike and Shawne Merriman's Lights Out Brand have amicably resolved their ongoing dispute, with the sportswear giant wishing Merriman's Lights Out brand 'great success."

In Trademark and Copyright Law, David Klutt takes note of some details of the case prior to the settlement. Merriman's lawyers had asked for many documents concerning Nike's own version of Lights Out as part of discovery.  Nike countered that ownership was in dispute and that only matters pertaining to the validity of the trademark were relevant. The Court eventually ruled that the documents are indeed relevant, if only "marginally so," and compelled Nike to deliver the documents.  All this became academic once the settlement was reached.

Meanwhile, ESPN reports that Merriman's feistiness remains intact as he Tweeted a comeback to a Tweet posted by the official account of the Jacksonville Jaguars.  In celebration of National Pancake Day, the Jaguars posted a 2007 pic of former running back Maurice Jones Drew laying out Merriman.  The blow was underscored by a barb alluding to the move as a "pancaking" of Merriman.  Merriman shot back in his Twitter to the Jaguars, cracking that all the team could offer was "free pancakes."

Tags

Nike, NFL, Lights Out, trademark dispute

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