DETROIT – Sneaker giant Nike accuses Detroit-based online marketplace and apparel retailer StockX of knowingly selling counterfeit sneakers.

Nike has an ongoing lawsuit against StockX, filed in August but unsealed the week ending Nov. 16.

In the filing, Nike mocks StockX and their authenticity process because they say the retailer admitted its authenticators couldn’t determine whether the sneakers and apparel were authentic.

Nike says StockX mistook the fake shoes for real, and that the company has no idea what percentage of counterfeit sneakers were falsely authenticated and delivered to unannounced customers.

Court documents revealed that counterfeit versions of several popular shoe releases bypassed StockX’s authentication process, including Ben and Jerry’s “Chunky Dunky” SB Dunk, Grateful Dead SB Dunks, Off-White x Air Jordan 2 and more others.

Nike said StockX downplayed the story of fake sneakers going through its authentication process while encouraging the resale of counterfeit sneakers.

Nike accuses StockX of running a sneaker fraud ring. They believe a resale company in downtown Detroit sold more than 1,800 products on the platform before ceasing operations.

The sneaker giant wants the courts to rule in their favor based on its evidence against StockX and its practices of selling fake sneakers and falsely promoting legitimacy.

StockX denied Nike’s claims.

“Nike’s claims are completely wrong. Contrary to their claims, StockX is a leader in the fight against counterfeiting, a pervasive problem affecting brands globally. That’s why verification has been at our core since the beginning, and because of our leadership in this space, Nike has previously recommended StockX to its customers, partnered with StockX, and praised StockX as “a good actor.” We’ve invested millions of dollars in technology, training and tools to deliver on our commitment to our customers, and we support our verification process with the Buyer’s Promise.

The products at issue in this case amount to just 0.0004% of the 17.8 million Nike sneakers reviewed by StockX while this litigation was ongoing. Compare that to the over $80,000,000 worth of suspected counterfeit sneakers that StockX has prevented from being sold on our platform. StockX has long done its part to prevent bad actors from trading on our platform, but we can’t do it alone. It’s a shame that instead of working with us to fight counterfeiting, Nike has chosen to use its resources to pursue expensive and meritless litigation and persecute a company that has long worked to fight the prevalence of counterfeiting .”

STOCKX