Converse is not only an “All-Star” on the concrete, but also in the courtroom. The iconic American sneaker brand first created in 1917 is doling out lawsuits like only a sneaker brand can: Left and right.
The Nike-owned Converse is claiming 31 retailers and manufacturers including Walmart, Kmart, Sketchers, and H&M have all infringed on trademark by selling knock off Chucks (All Stars). Alexander Kaufman of Huffington post said in a release the company is suing “Basically Everyone In The World Over Knockoff Chucks.”
Posers of the world: You have been warned. In addition to monetary damages, Converse is suing primarily to boot the Chuck Taylor doppelgangers from retail shelves.
“The goal really is to stop this action,” Converse CEO Jim Calhoun said in a release. “I think we’re quite fortunate here to be in the possession of what we would consider to be an American icon.”
To call the Converse brand an icon is not an overstatement. For nearly a century, loyal consumers have tread Chucks through two World Wars, the Civil Rights Movement, Vietnam, Watergate, Sept. 11, and beyond. Converse, in essence, is the “Forrest Gump” of footwear: It’s seen it all.
“First came the athletes, then the greasers. Then came the nonconformists, the teenagers and finally the baby boomers,” Rachel Abrams said in a release. “The shoe manufacturer Converse has sold its brand of cool and whiff of rebellion to generations of Americans.”
The establishment of the Converse Chuck Taylor as a distinctly American emblem endows it with an aura of grit and history that is not rivaled 
among modern footwear brands. However, it is this unceremonious coronation that has also summoned such a sustained loyal following for Chucks that transcends generations. In such a predicament where copycats are being sold, Converse is right to defend not only the flourishing of its business but the integrity of its seminal sneaker.
Interestingly, “knockoffs hadn’t been prevalent in the past,” Edvard Pettersson, Bloomberg, said in a release, “but since 2008, the company has filed more than 180 cease-and-desist letters for alleged infringement of the shoes, according to a company statement.”
In true American fashion, Converse is not averse to friendly free market competition, but will continue to protect its integrity and finances as a loyalty-driven brand.