New Balance sues Decathlon over Kiprun logo, demanding US recall

New Balance has filed a trademark infringement suit against two US subsidiaries of French sporting goods retailer Decathlon, alleging that a logo used on Kiprun running shoes is confusingly similar to its own "N" mark.

The complaint was filed on Tuesday in the US District Court for the District of Massachusetts against Decathlon America LLC and Decathlon USA LLC. New Balance told the court that the Kiprun design is "virtually identical" to its own logo. The case has been assigned to Magistrate Judge Jessica D. Hedges, with summonses issued to both defendants on Wednesday.

At the centre of the dispute is how the mark reads in each direction. New Balance alleges that while one version of the Kiprun design resembles the letter K, its mirrored use on the footwear looks like an N. According to the complaint, Decathlon maintains that the logo is a K rather than an N, despite frequently using a mirror image of the design, including in isolation.

Consumer confusion as the core argument

New Balance has used its N branding on footwear since the 1970s and said in its complaint that it has spent hundreds of millions of dollars promoting trademarks centred on the letter. Much of the evidence it has put forward comes from runners themselves. The filing points to YouTube videos, Instagram reels and Reddit threads in which people look at the Kiprun shoes and call the logo an N, and it cites a comment from someone identified as a lead footwear designer at Decathlon acknowledging that shoppers were doing it.

Infringement cases turn on whether buyers are likely to be confused rather than on whether two marks match. New Balance says it contacted Decathlon and its lawyers repeatedly about the design from January onwards, but that the company has continued to use it.

The Boston-based company is seeking a recall of all shoes carrying the design, destruction of products bearing the mark, and monetary damages to be determined at trial by jury. The complaint runs to 40 pages and was filed with a single exhibit.