Hackney Council wins £300K from Nike after IP infringement

Hackney Council has won £300,000 from sportswear giant Nike for copyright infringement after the company admitted misusing Hackney's logo.

Hackney legal head Meic Sullivan-Gould said the money would be spent on sports and leisure facilities and issued a rallying call to other councils, as first revealed on www.the lawyer.com (11 September).

Sullivan-Gould said: "I'm delighted that Hackney's people have got some recompense for a blatant misuse of its logo. It was a complete mess-up by Nike and I think it's a strong message for other local authorities to look at their IP rights and make sure they're able to protect them."

As reported by The Lawyer (5 June), Nike used the London borough's 'H' logo on the kit for its grass roots football campaign without permission from the council.

The dispute has been resolved in an out-of-court settlement agreed between Hackney, represented by Marks & Clerk, and Nike European general counsel Colin Graham, represented by Hewitsons.

Partner Gregor Grant, who led the Marks & Clerk team, explained: "We didn't start court proceedings because fairly early on [Nike] put their hands up and admitted using the logo without permission."

Partner Nial Ackerman led the Hewitsons team advising Nike.