Nike Sues designer Denis Dekovic who left for Adidas

Nike accuse their former top designers Denis Dekovic, Mark Miner and Marc Dolce for stealing its commercial secrets. The three top Nike designers are making the switch from Nike to Adidas in early 2015 and will lead the new Adidas design studio, which comes to Brooklyn in New York next year.

Nike sues three former top shoe designers

Denis Dekovic designed amongst others things the revolutionary Nike Magista Obra Football Boots.

Nike claims at least $10 million in damages in a lawsuit filled in Oregon. The US-giant said that Denis Dekovic, Mark Miner and Marc Dolce started consulting for Adidas while they were still working at Nike, violating their non-compete agreements.

Former Nike designer Denis Dekovic made the following statement: "During our entire careers at Nike, we gave nothing but our maximum effort. We collectively poured in hours, passion and dedication beyond what was asked or expected of us, often prioritizing our jobs over our families."

"Until the very end, we stayed engaged, loyal and committed. We have a tremendous amount of respect for our colleagues and Nike and would never do anything to harm them."

The three former designers would have brought Adidas information about Nike's running, sportswear and soccer plans in the upcoming years and copied sensitive design information from their computer. The new Adidas Brooklyn Creative Design Studio would be a knockoff of Nike’s design lab.

Additionally, Nike claimed that Adidas knew of the non-compete agreements the designers had with their former employer and would pay for any legal fees. The non-compete agreement did not allow the designers to have any connection with Adidas during their employment and for one year after leaving Nike.