News briefs – Page 26
-
News briefs
U.S. boycott of Beijing Olympics still up in the air
It remains unclear whether the U.S. will boycott the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing, either alone or in a coalition with other countries. Last month the U.S. Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, outlined the reasons, saying: “China uses coercion and aggression to systematically erode autonomy in Hong Kong, undercut democracy ...
-
News briefs
Former Nike manager pleads guilty in $1.5m fraud case
A former marketing executive of Nike in charge of temporary retail venues until 2018, Errol Andam, admitted at a U.S. Attorney General office that he had made false statements and committed wire fraud and money laundering through various schemes that defrauded the company of $1.49 million, according to The Oregonian. ...
-
News briefs
South and North Korea submit joint Korean bid for 2032 Olympics
Seoul’s metropolitan government has notified the International Olympic Committee (IOC) of its bid to co-host the 2032 Summer Olympics with Pyongyang, the capital of North Korea. According to a report byYonhap, South Korea’s news agency, Seoul’s metropolitan government said on April 1st that a written notification of the bid had ...
-
News briefs
Nike obtains a ban on Satan sneakers
Supporting Nike’s position in the case, a federal district judge in Brooklyn moved quickly to issue a temporary restraining order against the MSCHF Design Studio, forbidding it from fulfilling any orders for the modified “Satan Shoes” version of its Air Max 97. The defendants in the case said they had ...
-
News briefs
Peloton wins fees in a sordid patent case
A U.S. court has awarded $4,299,163 to Peloton Interactive to cover attorneys’ fees and other expenses it incurred in a sordid patent infringement suit brought in 2016 by VR Optics. The whole thing started when Peloton hired the Villency Design Group (VDG) in 2012 to design its well-known interactive stationary ...
-
News briefs
Nike sues over a satanic Air Max
Nike is sueing a Brooklyn company, the MSCHF Product Studio, which has sold a lot of 666 pairs of altered Air Max 97 shoes with satanic-themed detailing, embroidery and a drop of human blood on the insole. MSCHF collaborated with a rapper, Lil Nas X on the customized Air Max ...
-
News briefs
Sport England promotes the return to sports
Sport England has hired Cake, the sports marketing arm of the Havas advertising and PR agency. The public body – established by Royal Charter in 1996 to “give everyone in England the chance to benefit from sport and physical activity” – has for its immediate priority the #ReturnToPlay campaign, which ...
-
News briefs
BSI calls for a revised German Supply Chain Act
In a public statement, the German Sporting Goods Industry Association (BSI) has criticized a German government bill that would force German companies with more than 1,000 people to comply with human rights in their supply chain. It targets the textile, electronics, chemical, pharmaceutical, food and automotive industries and is intended ...
-
News briefs
Munich court opens case against 21sportsgroup’s CEO
Judicial authorities in Munich are reportedly carrying out an investigation for fraud against Georg Kofler, a German entrepreneur who was appointed CEO of 21sportsgroup after acquiring a stake of 40 percent in the German multi-channel sports retailer along with other media investors in mid-2018. Kofler is said to have promised ...
-
News briefs
The IOC approves Olympic Agenda 2020+5
The International Olympic Committee (IOC) Session on March 12 unanimously approved Olympic Agenda 2020+5, the new strategic roadmap for the Olympic Movement and the Olympic Organization through to 2025. Building on the achievements of Olympic Agenda 2020, the new roadmap identifies five key trends: solidarity, digitalization, sustainability, credibility, and economic ...
-
News briefs
Golf courses and outdoor sports facilities are re-opening in the U.K.
The Welsh government has announced that golf courses and outdoor sports facilities are allowed to reopen from March 13 following the latest easing of lockdown measures in Wales. Outdoor sports facilities – including outdoor gyms, tennis courts and basketball courts – will be allowed to welcome visitors back as of ...
-
News briefs
Thomas Bach has been re-elected IOC president
Thomas Bach has been re-elected for an additional four-year term as president of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) at the 137th Session of the IOC, which was held virtually on March 10. The 67-year-old former fencer and Olympic champion received 93 yes votes out of the 94 valid votes. Bach ...
-
News briefs
Tokyo 2020 will likely go ahead without foreign spectators
The Japanese government has reportedly decided to prevent overseas spectators from attending the Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics this summer over concerns for the spread of coronavirus and its variants. A formal decision on this matter will be made by the end of this month, and the number of spectators to ...
-
News briefs
Court upholds one of Cocona’s patents, overruling TNF’s appeal
In a lawsuit first filed in 2017 by Cocona Labs against The North Face (TNF) and Columbia Sportswear, a U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit affirmed on March 4 the validity of key claims of one of Cocona’s patents on its 2.5L waterproof/breathable laminate technology. Registered on Feb. ...
-
News briefs
European Fishing Tackle Trade Association to move HQ to Brussels
The European Fishing Tackle Trade Association (EFTTA) is planning to move its headquarters from London to Brussels later this year. According to a report in Angling International, the move is set to be completed in September. The decision is consistent with the activity of the organization, which conducts lobbying in ...
-
News briefs
Tokyo 2020 adds 12 women to executive board to promote gender equality
Tokyo 2020 has appointed 12 women to its executive board, bringing the total number of women in the organizing committee’s board to 19, namely 42 percent of the total. The move follows the recent sexism scandal that led to the resignation of the former president of the committee, Yoshiro Mori, ...
-
News briefs
Further development of the FEDAS Key
SGI-DHO, the European organization that stands for the Sporting Goods Data Harmonization Organization is focusing on the further development of the FEDAS Key, for which it is responsible, in the “training/fitness” and “travel/outdoor equipment” categories. It has already adjusted the bike category and developed a new classification for “virus protection ...
-
News briefs
Russia may curtail counterfeiting within 12 months, Unichel feels
The mandatory tagging of footwear, coupled with increased controls in the Russian market, could curb the share of counterfeit shoes sold in the country, said Vladimir Denisenko, the head of Russia’s main footwear producer Unichel. Denisenko was initially critical about the tagging project when it was launched by the Russian ...
-
News briefs
Italian mountain areas call for a dedicated ministry
Italy’s Unione Nazionale Comuni Comunità Enti Montani (Uncem), the national organization of mountain municipalities, is calling for the creation of a new post of minister or undersecretary for mountain areas – “Ministero alla Montagna e alle Aree Interne” (Minister for the Mountains and Internal Areas), it suggested. The new government ...
-
News briefs
Crocs may have won the battle for its clog’s patent
A panel of three judges in a U.S. Federal Circuit court confirmed a previous verdict by the Trademark and Appeal Board of the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office (USPTO) that validated Crocs’ core patent (N° D517,789) on its clogs. The board had responded to an appeal made by a successor ...