Nike subsidiary Converse is pursuing trade-infringement lawsuits in federal district court in New York against 31 companies, including Walmart, Kmart, Skechers and Fila.

The Massachusetts-based sneaker manufacturer accuses the other companies of trademark infringement on its widely recognizable Chuck Taylor shoe, the New York Times reported Tuesday. Converse is asking for monetary damages and trying to prevent the alleged imitators from being sold, the Times reported.

Nike purchased Converse in 2003 for about $310 million.

Last year, Converse accounted for nearly $1.7 billion in sales, a 16 percent increase over the $1.45 billion the previous year.

By comparison, Under Armour's sales for all products last year were about $2.3 billion. Nike's figures, which include Converse, totaled about $27.8 billion.

By June 2017, Converse's annual sales will have hit $3 billion, Nike chief executive Mark Parker told investment analysts last year.

"By strengthening those elements that make Converse unique, its iconic products and its connection with the music and youth, and then leveraging the operational muscle of nike air max 2013​, we've expanded the brand's penetration around the world," Parker told the group.

"And we think there's ample opportunity for growth for Converse ... the Converse apparel business represents a huge opportunity, both given the size of the market and given Converse's unique brand connections with consumers."

Converse has other Oregon ties, though. Even before Nike bought the shoe maker, Portland brand guru Steve Sandstrom helped reshape Converse's image.

Converse had just emerged from bankruptcy in 2001 when the then-owner enlisted Sandstrom, a former Nike Air Max​ employee, to redesign the Chuck Taylor All-Stars boxes.

Steve Maddocks, a former Converse co-owner, has credited the box design with reigniting consumer interest in the All-Stars. The sneaker was created in 1917 and renamed for Chuck Taylor, a popular basketball player who joined the company as a spokesman in the early 1920s. Converse was founded in 1908.

Converse announced last year that it planned to move its headquarters to the Lovejoy Wharf project in Boston in 2015.

In 2011, The Associated Press reported that factory workers in Indonesia making Converse sneakers had been hit or slapped by supervisors.



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