Adidas Sues Sole Retriever for Alleged Trade Secret Theft and Extortion

Sole Retriever is in hot water after being hit with a lawsuit from sneaker giant Adidas, alleging extortion, trade secret theft and copyright infringement.

In a lawsuit filed on March 12 in the U.S. District Court for the District of Oregon, the suit alleges that Harris R. Monoson and his company, Sole Retriever, used shoe mockups and trade secrets as attempted leverage to receive preferential treatment. In an example email included in the court documents, Monoson allegedly sent Adidas employees a message which read, “Please consider this our last attempt to give you an opportunity to make good on this relationship. We’ve made every effort to build trust and honor your word, yet at this point it’s clear we’re being strung along…The way adidas basketball continues to alienate us is not appreciated, and we will not tolerate it.”

The email further goes on to say Sole Retriever allegedly has the AE2 lineup in every color way and will post it unless they “start getting treated with the level of respect we’ve earned.”

Adidas alleges that they warned Monoson to “destroy” the images that were “unlawfully obtained.” Two days after the email was sent, on September 2, 2025, a “stolen image” of the “Bred” color scheme of Anthony Edwards’ sneaker was posted on the platform’s Instagram page, referred to as a “mockup.” Sole Retriever went on to post two other colorways of the shoe shortly after along with the retail price. While it’s unknown how they obtained the photos of the shoes, Adidas suspects they were from internal employees.

Sole Retriever responded to a lawsuit in a statement posted to their social media channels, calling it an “attack on the protected speech of an independent publisher.”

The platform further goes on to write that Adidas’ actions “set a dangerous precedent for every sneaker media outlet, creator and journalist who covers [sneakers],” citing its First Amendment protections “afforded to the press.”

If the suit moves forward, Adidas is seeking damages that could climb into the millions, requesting up to $150,000 per infringement. Sole Retriever could also be barred from publishing unreleased designs in the future at the request of Adidas as well.

Sole Retriever has continued to operate as normal, posting previews of new sneakers. Discovery is to be completed by August 10, and Adidas requested a jury trial.