There was no shortage of legal issues affecting the footwear industry in 2025.

While trademark complaints made up the bulk of the legal dramas this year, other disputes made headlines as well.

From White Mountain’s battle with Birkenstock to Steve Madden sparring with Adidas, FN rounds up 9 of the biggest legal dramas in footwear in 2025.

White Mountain Footwear Hits Back on Birkenstock Clog ‘Knockoff’ Lawsuit

White Mountain Footwear and its parent company American Exchange Group are fighting back in an ongoing lawsuit with Birkenstock.

In a new motion filed earlier this month in U.S. District Court in Massachusetts, White Mountain is seeking the court to dismiss Birkenstock’s claims due to “undisputed evidence” that allegedly proves that the German shoe company “turned a blind eye for 30 years” while White Mountain sold so-called “lookalike” footwear styles similar to Birkenstock.

In the original complaint, the German footwear firm’s U.S. subsidiary claimed that White Mountain and its parent American Exchange allegedly have “systematically copied and produced knockoffs” of Birkenstock’s Buckley clog; its trademark for its signature bone-pattern sole design; and trade dress rights in its Arizona two-strap sandal, Boston clog, and Mayari toe-loop sandal.

How Buying a Pair of ‘Squeaky’ On Cloudmonster Sneakers at Dick’s Led a Customer to Launch a Class Action Lawsuit

Swiss running brand On faced a new class action lawsuit in October after multiple people claimed its sneakers with CloudTec outsoles emit “a loud, embarrassing, and difficult to stop squeaking sound” with each step.

In a complaint filed in U.S. District Court in Oregon, Patricia Ramirez and Louis Bologna both claimed they were “injured by the price premium” they paid for the shoes as a result of On’s “material representations and omissions.”

When contacted by FN, a representative from On stated that the company does not comment on ongoing legal matters.

Kizik Parent Sues Skechers for Allegedly Knocking Off Hands-Free Slip-On Shoe Tech

In July, Kizik parent company HandsFree Labs has filed a lawsuit against Skechers USA for allegedly infringing on its footwear patents.

In a lawsuit filed in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas, Kizik claimed that Skechers “knowingly and willfully infringed” four HandsFree Labs utility patents, which protect core mechanical innovations that enable true hands-free shoe entry, as well as two HandsFree Labs design patents, which protect ornamental innovations.

Later that month, Skechers called Kizik’s allegations “baseless,” and said they are “based on the assertion that Kizik created the hands-free footwear category and is the only company that can legally use that century-old idea.”

Nike Settles Lawsuit Against StockX

A three-year legal battle that began in 2022 with Nike crying foul on StockX’s sneaker NFTs and expanded to include allegations of enabling counterfeit sales ended with a settlement in August. Terms were kept confidential, but both sides agreed to drop the case with prejudice, meaning it can’t file again.

The battle started in early 2022 when the sportswear giant sued StockX in Manhattan federal court, charging that the online marketplace inappropriately used the Nike trademark as it launched into the world of NFTs, or non-fungible tokens.

Nike Files Lawsuit Against Clot Founder Edison Chen

Nike Inc. filed a breach of contract lawsuit in August against Edison Chen, the founder and creative director of streetwear brand Clot.

Also named as a defendant was Juice Los Angeles LLC, a company owned by Chen. Nike filed the action to collect $126,615.58 owed by Juice on goods the sportswear brand provided to Chen’s company. Chen was named because he is the personal guarantor on the Juice account with Nike. Chen is a resident of Los Angeles, where his firm Juice is also based.

Steve Madden Claims ‘Adidas Does Not Own All Stripes’ in Lawsuit

Steve Madden sued Adidas in May in an effort to stop the German athletic company from its alleged efforts to “monopolize common design features in the fashion industry.”

According to a lawsuit filed in federal court in Brooklyn, N.Y., Steve Madden is seeking a declaratory judgment that says there was neither any infringement nor any unfair competition because the company is “tired of being targeted” by Adidas for footwear design elements that “bear no resemblance” to Adidas’ Three-Stripe mark.

“No consumer is likely to believe that the footwear including these designs is manufactured by, or otherwise associated with or approved by, Adidas,” Steve Madden wrote in the complaint.

Inside a Securities Fraud Class Action Suit Against Crocs Allegedly Involving ‘Misleading’ Hey Dude Data

In March, the Kessler Topaz Meltzer & Check, LLP law firm alleged that Crocs misled investors following its 2022 acquisition of Hey Dude by concealing information that negatively impacted the company’s financial results, allegedly leading to an inflated price.

As a result, the complaint alleged that the company reported Hey Dude revenue numbers in 2022 that were not indicative of actual retail demand for Hey Dude shoes and, over the longer term, were entirely unsustainable.

“After the company’s retail partners began to destock this excess inventory, defendants further misled investors by concealing that waning product demand for Hey Dude shoes would further impact the company’s financial results,” the complaint said.

Adidas Sues Fashion Nova for Third Time After Allegedly Violating a 2022 Settlement Agreement

Adidas took legal action against Fashion Nova once again in March after the German sportswear brand claims that the fast fashion retailer violated a 2022 settlement agreement.

According to a filing in the U.S. District Court of Central California, Adidas claimed that Fashion Nova had breached their agreement signed less than three years ago by promoting, offering for sale, and/or selling many of the exact same designs it had promised to discontinue.

Adidas also claimed that in addition to advertising and selling apparel containing designs “identical or substantially similar” to those prohibited by the 2022 agreement, Fashion Nova released an entirely new batch (with additional items marked as “coming soon”) of footwear and apparel bearing confusingly similar or substantially indistinguishable imitations of the Three-Stripe mark.

Puma Files Trademark Opposition Against Tiger Woods’ Sun Day Red Logos

While Tiger Woods’ Sun Day Red golf label is only a year-old, it’s logos may need to change if Puma has anything to say about it.

According to a Jan. 2 filing with the U.S. Patent and Trademark office, Puma opposed Sun Day Red’s “tiger logo” and “SDR tiger logo” that Woods is aiming to trademark for the use on eyewear, bags, golf towels, clothing, footwear, sports equipment and retail services.

In the filing, Puma said that Sun Day Red’s marks will “cause confusion as to the source, sponsorship, association or affiliation of those goods and services due to Puma’s strong position in the footwear, apparel and sports industries.”