After nearly 20 years of tension, Nike recently filed a lawsuit against popular Japanese streetwear brand A Bathing Ape (Bape). Nike claimed that the brand’s “business revolves around copying Nike’s iconic designs.” As seen pictured above, the Bape “Bapestas” are almost identical to Nike’s famous Air Force 1–which prompted Nike to finally file for trademark infringement.

Within the lawsuit, Nike also claimed that the brand approached Bape in 2009 warning them about similarities between each shoes and Bape agreed to redesign its Bapesta sneaker to avoid any infringement. Then in 2021, Bape reverted back to the AF1 design. There have been several other instances of the Japanese brand copying classic Nike sneaker designs, and it became too similar to ignore.

When chatter began of the possible trademark infringement in 2008, Bape founder Tomoaki Nagao said, “I never read blogs so I don’t hear the criticism about us doing Nike take-offs.” He got away with it for over a decade until Nike had enough by filing the suit on January 25, 2023. Although Bape’s sneaker sales have paled in comparison to Nike’s, Bape’s recent collaboration with Marvel propelled Nike to follow through with legal action.

This is not the first and certainly won’t be the last time Nike strikes down bootleg shoe designs. Lululemon and StockX are two companies–among others–that Nike has recently sued regarding footwear designs and sales. With a company as recognizable as Nike, any designs slightly mirroring them will likely face legal action or, at least, be noticed by the shoe giants. Companies must learn from Bape’s mistakes by making changes when Nike calls. Although Bape eluded them for years, mimicking infamous shoe designs from the biggest sportswear brand in the world usually will not be pushed aside and ignored.