Puma says it will launch “held back” NRGY shoes following court success
20/04/2016
Adidas complained that the thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU) Puma uses in its NRGY range of athletic shoes is in breach of an exclusive agreement adidas has in place with soling technology provider BASF.
Puma had carried out some work on TPU applications with BASF before the exclusivity agreement with adidas, which came into effect in 2011. After that, Puma chose Huntsman as its technology partner in the build-up to the launch of NRGY footwear in 2014.
A year earlier, adidas had launched its Boost range and applied to the courts to stall Puma’s plans for NRGY. However, following the court decision in Düsseldorf, Puma said it will now launch the whole of the range. Its head of intellectual property, Neil Narriman, said his company had held back from launching a number of NRGY styles owing to the legal situation. He told news agency Reuters that Puma will now begin promoting the technology aggressively.
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