Eddie Van Halenâs red, white and black splatter-striped âFrankenstratâ guitar is one of the Van Halen leaderâs true signatures. In fact, itâs so closely associated with the guitarist, Van Halen had the color scheme copyrighted in 2001. Now heâs suing Nike because he says the sportswear giant put a similar design on one of their Dunk Lows sneakers, Spinner reports.
In the lawsuit Eddie and his ELVH Inc. accuse Nike of treading on his trademark, saying the NYX sneaker did âirreparable harm and damageâ to his design. He is seeking both monetary retribution and âthe impoundment and destruction of all footwear.â While the sneaker does feature red, white and black stripes on the sole â a popular tri-color combination â it doesnât seem identical to Van Halenâs pattern, and in response to the suit, a Nike spokesperson said, âNikeâs Dunk shoe design is not substantially similar to any of the Van Halen designs, and Nike has not referenced the âVan Halenâ name or image as part of any marketing campaign or promotional material associated with the shoe.â
At the heart of the conflict is the fact that just last month, Eddie Van Halen released his own footwear line, EVH Shoes, adored with his Frankenstrat stripes. Van Halenâs sneakers actually look suspiciously like Converse All-Stars, so unless thereâs an official deal in place, he could potentially find himself on the opposite end of a lawsuit soon.
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