Converse

1908–1940: Early years

Forty-seven-year-old Marquis Mills Converse, a manager at a footwear manufacturing firm, opened the Converse Rubber Shoe Company in February 1908, in Malden, Massachusetts. The company was a rubber shoe manufacturer, and its early inventory included winterized rubber-soled footwear, galoshes, tennis shoes, and some non-footwear items like automobile tires. In the summer of 1916, the Converse basketball line was established; by 1917 the Converse All-Star basketball shoe was introduced and quickly became successful during World War I and the Spanish flu.

In 1922, basketball player Charles H. "Chuck" Taylor walked into Converse complaining of sore feet, and Converse gave him a job as a salesman and ambassador. He promoted the shoes around the U.S., and in 1932, Taylor's signature was added to the All-Star patch on the high-top sneakers. He continued this work until shortly before his death in 1969. Although sales for the All-Star rose initially, the company entered bankruptcy in 1929. The Stone family purchased Converse in 1939.

1941–2001: War, rise, and bankruptcy

When the U.S. entered World War II in 1941, Converse shifted production to manufacturing rubberized footwear, outerwear, and protective suits for the military. After the war's end, the company resumed production of athletic footwear and chiefly made a high top shoe, in either black or white. In the 1950s and 1960s, Converse promoted an American image with its Converse Basketball Yearbook. Artist Charles Kerins created cover art that celebrated Converse's role in the lives of high school and college athletes. In 1957, Converse came out with a low-cut style of All-Stars. By 1966, the shoe was also available in school colors.

Converse customized shoes for the New York Renaissance (the "Rens"), the first all-African-American professional basketball team. The shoes were designed to be "non-skid", which gave basketball players better grip. An extra strip of rubber was eventually added to protect the shoes from constant pivoting; this was called the "pivot button". In 1962, center Wilt Chamberlain of the Philadelphia Warriors scored 100 points in a National Basketball Association (NBA) game while wearing a pair of All-Stars, taking a 169–147 victory over the New York Knicks in Hershey, Pennsylvania, on March 2.

By the early 1970s, Converse had diversified to include manufacturing sporting goods and industrial products. Converse was acquired by the Eltra Corporation in 1972, and bought out one of its biggest competitors at the time, PF Flyers, from B.F. Goodrich. However, federal courts ruled the sale a monopoly and the deal was subsequently broken up through antitrust litigation. Converse only retained the trademark rights to the Jack Purcell line, which it still produces. The chevron-and-star insignia—a logo that remains on a large portion of Converse footwear—was created by Jim Labadini, an employee.

Eltra was acquired by Allied Corporation in 1979. Allied moved out of the consumer products business in the 1980s, and in October 1986, Converse was acquired by Interco Incorporated and spun off in 1994.

Converse lost its athletic shoe monopoly from the 1970s onward, as new competitors, including Puma, Adidas, and Nike, grew in popularity. A decade later, as Reebok introduced new designs and technology to the sports market, Converse was no longer the official shoe of the NBA. Although canvas-rubber shoes regained popularity in the 1980s as casual footwear, Converse eventually became too dependent on the "All Stars" basketball brand, whose market collapsed by 1989–1990. In 1991, parent company Interco filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. In 2000, Converse was slipping repeatedly into receivership as debt piled up yearly.

Converse filed for bankruptcy on January 22, 2001. On March 30, its last manufacturing plants in the U.S. closed down, as production fully moved overseas. In April 2001, Footwear Acquisitions, led by Marsden Cason and Bill Simon, purchased the brand from bankruptcy and added industry partners Jack Boys, Jim Stroesser, Lisa Kempa, and David Maddocks to lead the turnaround. During this period, Converse moved its headquarters from North Reading, Massachusetts, to North Andover, Massachusetts. The company was located in the town of North Andover for 13 years.

Chuck Taylor All-Stars

Converse started making an early basketball shoe in 1917 and redesigned it in 1922, when Chuck Taylor asked the company to create a better shoe with more support and flexibility. After Converse added Taylor's signature to the ankle patch they became known as Chuck Taylor All Stars. By the 1960s the company had captured about 70 to 80 percent of the basketball shoe market, but the shoe declined in popularity during the 1970s when basketball players wore competing brands. Chuck Taylor All-Stars enjoyed a comeback in popularity in the 1980s as retro-style casual footwear.

Chuck Taylor All-Stars have made an appearance in over 650 films, such as Back to the Future, I, Robot, Grease and Stand by Me. David Tennant (playing the Tenth Doctor) wore red and cream versions of Hi-top Converse on science-fiction show Doctor Who.

A redesigned model of the Chuck Taylor All-Star, the "Chuck Taylor II", was released on July 28, 2015. Incorporating Nike technology, it retains most of the original's outward appearance while employing newer materials for the insole.

The Weapon

In 1986, Converse released "The Weapon" basketball shoe. Manufactured in two color schemes to match the kit colors of basketball teams, it has been available in both high-top and low-cut varieties. It had leather construction throughout, including the inside heel which was also heavily padded for comfort. The first endorsers of "The Weapon" were Larry Bird and Magic Johnson, who were prominently featured in a Converse commercial set in Bird's hometown of French Lick, Indiana in 1985. They were also worn by Axl Rose in the Guns N' Roses music video "Estranged".

Legal issues

Starting in July 2008, Converse sent around 180 cease-and-desist letters to over 30 companies that they claimed were violating the Chuck Taylor All-Stars trademark and selling so-called look-alike sneakers. In October 2014, Converse filed a lawsuit against 30 companies for allegedly infringing on its generic sneaker style's bumper toe, striped midsole, and toe cap. The brand argued that companies were violating an alleged common-law trademark by importing sneakers with similar elements. Several companies settled with Converse and they were dropped from the list.

In November 2015, Charles Bullock, chief administrative judge at the International Trade Commission, preliminarily ruled that several brands Converse filed against were violating Converse's outsole design trademarks, i.e. the pattern on the bottom of the sole of the shoe. The soles of the shoes are designed to allow players to jump or move in all directions. The diamond pattern makes this possible. Judge Bullock further ruled that while Skechers "Twinkle Toes" brands did share similarities to Converse, "Twinkle Toes" were different enough and marketed in a way for it not to be mistaken for Chuck Taylor All-Stars. Judge Bullock also ruled that most of the shoes sold by Highline United under the Ash brand did not infringe and that Converse did not have a valid common law mark for its midsole.

On June 23, 2016, the anniversary of the death of Chuck Taylor, the International Trade Commission ruled that Converse's alleged trade dress for the midsole design of a combined toe cap, toe bumper, and stripe was not entitled to trademark protection under the common law and found invalid Converse's federal trademark registration. The case was appealed to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, which ruled that the ITC had used the wrong test and remanded the case. On remand, the ITC ruled that Converse's trade dress was protectable but not infringed.