Nike is the number one sneaker manufacturer in the world. It has kept this position for decades and they sure as hell don’t want to loose it anytime soon.

But the thing is Adidas is catching up with them. The German company started acquiring key companies in this market increasing its coverage. It started with the purchase on the Solomon Group in 1997, a move that led to a name change from “Adidas” to “Adidas-Solomon AG”.

In early 2006, they also purchased the big rival Reebok for almost 4 billion dollars to further penetrate the US market, threatening Nike’s business.

Adidas is one of the main sponsors of the next World Cup that will take place in their home country, and they are optimist that it will bring them tons of money.

So Nike’s executives thought: ”Hey, they’ve been messing with us for a long time, and we just found out that they use out SHOX technology to make their super popular sneakers. Let’s teach them who the boss is”.

So there you have it. Lawsuits like this are something common. Big companies use this procedure to ensure their position on the market a while. I’m sure another lawsuit is coming in the next one or two years max.