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by Brendan Dunne
Nike is calling the lawsuit over the Air Jordan "Jumpman" logo a meritless case.
The lawsuit was filed earlier this year by Jacobus Rentmeester, who took the above photo in 1984 for LIFE magazine. Rentmeester is seeking an unspecified amount in monetary damages from the brand for its alleged copyright infringement.
In its response, a motion to dismiss filed this week and posted by Portland Business Journal, Nike asserts that "infringement can only occur where two photographs of the same subject are virtually identical." Nike also criticized the timing of the lawsuit, which strangely came over 30 years after the photo in question was taken, by saying that the delay "speaks volumes regarding [Rentmeester's] own assessments of the merits."
The motion to dismiss by Nike goes on to note that the Jumpman logo itself is a silhouette, and that Rentmeester never created a silhouette of his 1984 photo.
Nike's response to the Air Jordan logo lawsuit appears below.
