Court rules in favor of Nike in "Jumpman" case

U.S. District Court Judge Michael Mosman has just thrown out a January lawsuit filed by photographer Jacobus Rentmeester that accused Nike's "Jumpman" logo of infringing on his intellectual property.

The suit alleged that Nike copied Rentmeester's 1984 shot of basketball legend Michael Jordan mid jump with their ad campaign and logo for its Jordan Brand. Nike had paid Rentmeester $150 for temporary use of his 1984 shot, and in the following year, released their own, similar photo of Jordan for part of a larger scale campaign. They then paid him an additional $15,000 for additional use of his photos over the next two years.

Where Rentmeester says they went wrong, was by exceeding their original agreement and releasing their own marketing materials, especially with their the "Jumpman" logo, in 1987 onwards.

Mosman threw out the case after arguing that "there is nothing original about the selection and arrangement of having a Michael Jordan jump with a basketball in the vicinity of a basketball hoop." For Rentmeester to have had a case, his photograph and Nike's would have had to have shared more similarities outside of their basic idea, and since there are a limited number of ways to express the idea of a basketball player jumping near a hoop, that the photographs would have had to be near-duplicates.

Rentmeester is currently in the process of trying to appeal Judge Mosman's decision.

If you've been faced with an unfair lawsuit, it's important to contact a skilled business attorney as soon as possible. A lawyer can help protect your rights in case of litigation, and get you just compensation.

Categorised in: Intellectual Property Law

This post was written by