Nike Steps Into a New Dispute

In “Father of the Bride,” Steve Martin plays an entrepreneur who owns an athletic shoe company called “Side Kick.”

Maybe he should have been a grocer.

The new comedy has become grist for an ongoing trademark infringement dispute between beach volleyball outfitter Sideout Sport and footwear giant Nike Inc.

Pasadena-based Sideout won a court order Dec. 18 barring Nike from advertising or promoting its Side 1 line of shoes and sportswear on the grounds that the name and logo were copycat versions of Sideout’s trademark.

Now Sideout wants Nike held in contempt of court because of a product placement deal plugging Side 1 in “Father of the Bride.”

The Touchstone Pictures movie was released nationally on Dec. 20, two days after the court order in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles. Under its deal with Touchstone, Side 1 supplied the merchandise that fills Martin’s store shelves, plus the aerobic shoes that the bride wears under her gown.

Sideout accuses Nike of withholding information about the movie deal during the discovery phase of Sideout’s lawsuit.

“We hope the court will really slap them down,” said Richard Doyle, an attorney for Sideout.

Side 1 General Manager Deborah Johnsen said the Touchstone deal was struck two months before Sideout filed its lawsuit last June.

“We never tried to hide anything,” Johnsen said Thursday. “They never asked us.”