Adidas prevails against rival Nike in a patent suit. A Nike process patent for manufacturing sport shoes was cancelled. The victory in court is likely to give Adidas a new, urgently needed tailwind in patents because, according to a survey conducted by Grünecker, Nike is presently the obvious pioneer in patents. “Die Welt” cites the author of the survey, Dr. Ulrich Blumenröder, attorney-at-law at Grünecker, as stating that “the headway that Nike has created for itself with its patents on the European market is very hard for the German sports article industry to catch up with".