Nikken, Sharper Image Clash Over Shoe Magnets

Nikken USA Inc., an Irvine-based direct marketing company that sells nutritional supplements and relaxation products, has filed a lawsuit accusing high-tech gadgets retailer Sharper Image Corp. of infringing on a patent for therapeutic magnets that fit inside shoes.

In the lawsuit, filed Wednesday in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles, Nikken contends it owns a 1984 U.S. patent for magnetized adhesive pads, including shoe insoles, thought to relieve foot pain.

Nikken contends San Francisco-based Sharper Image and business partner HoMedics-USA Inc., a Keego Harbor, Mich.-based health products company, are infringing on the Nikken patent by offering a similar product.

“Defendants are selling magnetic therapy devices including shoe insoles” that copy the description of Nikken’s patent, the company says in the suit, which asks a judge to stop Sharper Image’s use of the invention and award damages and fees.

Officials of Sharper Image and HoMedics-USA weren’t immediately available for comment.

Last month, Nikken and rival Amway Corp., one of the largest direct marketers of household products, sued each other over a design for therapeutic body magnets.

Amway accused Nikken of patent infringement, alleging that shortly after it introduced a line of magnetic pads that purportedly block pain signals from reaching the brain, Nikken and partner Nu-Magnetics Inc. began marketing similar products.

Nikken filed a countersuit accusing Amway of improperly interfering with its business.