Oct. 17--The world's largest sneaker maker has sued the world's largest retailer over the design of a running shoe.

In a complaint filed in U.S. District Court of Northern Illinois, Nike Inc. alleges that Wal-Mart Stores is "knowingly and intentionally" selling shoes that violate at least two design patents held by the Beaverton-area company.

Courtroom patent battles are relatively common in the hyper-competitive sports shoe and apparel business, where product design and appearance are so important. Companies such as Nike, Adidas and Oakley have all accused one another of infringing on legally protected designs.

And there's more than pride at stake in these battles.

In May, a federal jury in Portland ordered Payless Shoesource Inc. to shell out $304.6 million for infringing on Adidas America Inc.'s three-stripe trademark and shoe styles. Trademark attorneys believe it to be the largest award in a trademark-infringement case, surpassing a $143 million judgment in 1999 over an antibiotic.

Similar to the Adidas-Payless case, Nike is taking on a retailer rather than an industry rival. The complaint, filed Monday, includes photos of the Wal-Mart shoe, called the Detra, which bears no Swoosh but does appear to have cushioning columns in the heel similar to the popular Nike Shox.

Nike has refused to sell to Wal-Mart in the past out of concern that it would devalue the Nike brand. It also sued Wal-Mart at least once before over sales of an alleged Nike knock-off.

Nike won that suit, over a shoe that closely resembled a Nike hiking shoe. It appealed the case to the U.S. Supreme Court after a lower court slashed its damages from $6 million to $1.6 million.

The Supreme Court let stand the $1.6 million award.

Neither Nike nor Wal-Mart officials would comment on the current suit.

Jeff Manning can be reached at 503-294-7606 or by email at jmanning@news.oregonian.com.

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