Brooks is fighting back against Puma after the German athleticwear company sued it claiming trademark and design patent infringement in July. In its defense against Puma's claims, the Berkshire Hathaway-owned performance footwear brand described the litigation as a worldwide campaign to "bully" Brooks into abandoning its use of the word "nitro" when describing its nitrogen-infused midsole technology. The "nitro" usage is the central point of Puma's case, but other accusations extend to copying the company's foam-molding technology. Since 2019, Brooks has used a supercritical fluid (SCF) foaming process to infuse nitrogen gas into its midsoles to create a lightweight cushioning that it can fine-tune for each model. It refers to the shoes as "nitrogen-infused" or "nitro-infused" in its marketing and advertising materials. It says that none of these shoes is exclusively named or labeled as "nitro." Brooks said in its case that Puma launched its own nitrogen-infused midsole running shoe collection in 2020—more than a year after Brooks—before similarly marketing the benefits of the foam tech. The difference, Brooks alleges, is that Puma specifically markets them under the name "Nitro." "Puma is wrong," Brooks' said in its argument. "Puma has no rights to the word 'nitro,' which it uses in a descriptive manner, and it
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