American sporting goods giant Nike is suing two Chinese shoe manufacturers for alleged copyright infringement and a French supermarket for displaying and selling the shoes. The infringement involves the use of a logo - silhouette of former basketball star Michael Jordan slam-dunking - on the sports shoes of the Chinese companies. But the three contend the logo is not well-known in China though it might be in other countries, and therefore, no apology is necessary. They also contend the compensation is too high. As one of the most frequently copied brands, Nike has been fighting numerous counterfeits of its goods in recent years. Other major international brands are also doing the same. Felicia Deng, Cartier's Shanghai representative, said the company is seeing counterfeits of its products worldwide. "We have a group of lawyers to deal with it." Shanghai High People's Court statistics show the courts are seeing an increase in intellectual property rights (IPR) cases involving overseas brands.
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Nike and Apple announced a new line of "Nike+iPod" products

Today, Nike and Apple announced a new line of "Nike+iPod" products, the first of which is the Nike+iPod Sport Kit. This wireless system allows Nike+ shoes to talk to an iPod nano. Nike+ footwear will be connected to the iPod nano via the Nike+iPod Sport Kit ($29), and will calculate time, distance, calories burned and pace. The information will be displayed on the nano's screen. Real-time audible feedback also is provided through headphones.

"The result is like having a personal coach or training partner motivating you every step of your workout." Said Apple CEO Steve Jobs, in today's press release. Additionally, a new Nike Sport Music section is being added to the iTunes music store. "It's got a good beat and I can dance to it." -- Teenager listening to a song on a 45-rpm vinyl record on the American Bandstand TV show, circa 1960. "It's got a good beat and I can run to it." -- Jogger listening to a Sony Walkman cassette player, circa 1990. "It's got a good beat, I can run to it, and I can compile and share important data about my exercise regimen, too." -- Runner using a Nike+iPod Sport Kit, 2006.
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Are flat shoes bad for you?

If the shoe fits. According to Sammy Margo, a spokeswoman for the Chartered Society of Physiotherapists, any new shoe is potentially harmful. "Go straight from wearing trainers, which have incredible amounts of support for the arch and upper foot, or from high heels in the winter, to flat pumps in the summer, and you risk pain and strain," she says. Instead, she suggests "easing yourself into a new shoe style" by wearing them for only half an hour at a time and then slowly building up.
This might not always be convenient, particularly if you're dying to wear your new shoes out on the town, but Margo stresses that the "slightest changes in heel height can trigger problems".

Mix and match. To avoid painful foot problems, Margo suggests alternating your shoe styles from heel to flat, and also trainer to boot – and to avoid wearing the same pair of shoes day in, day out. And keep your muscles supple by doing a few calf stretches before, during and after long periods spent wearing flats. Two weeks of wearing ill-fitting or uncomfortable flats is all it takes to develop an injury and associated pain.
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Womens Designer Shoes - A Fashion Statement

We place quite a bit of importance on our shoes these days. At one time in the long ago past, shoes were meant to protect our feet. Today, they are made to make a statement! Our shoes are a big part of our wardrobe. They can make or break an outfit, and womens designer shoes are all the rage. Womens designer shoes, however, are quite expensive! Are they worth it? For most women, the answer to that question comes in three forms - yes, no, or sometimes. Now, keeping in mind that these designer shoes can cost hundreds, and sometimes thousands of dollars, the way a woman answers that question says quite a bit about her. If she says yes, that designer shoes are worth every penny, then this means that style and fashion are high on her list of priorities.
Looking from a durability standpoint, designer shoes are not sturdy in their construction. Most women simply are not willing to pay that kind of money for one pair of shoes - no matter whose name is stamped on them! What about protection. Remember, shoes were originally designed to protect our feet.
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How to select the best basketball shoes

The height and weight of a basketball shoe can also be important. If you are like many basketball players, you'll want a higher top shoe to protect your ankles. Ankle injuries are extremely common and high top shoes provide some support for the ankles. The weight of the shoe could be important to you if jumping is a large part of your game. It's quite simply really, the lighter the shoe the easier it is to jump high. Durability is another important aspect that gets overlooked at times. Measuring durability isn't easy when you are just trying on shoes, and it is mainly just a feeling. When you try on the shoe and wear it just a little, does it seem like it would hold up well over the long run? While style is nice, the style of the shoe should always be secondary to the comfort and performance of the shoe. A stylish shoe that is uncomfortable will get you nowhere fast on the basketball court!

Tips & Warnings. Be patient and try on several shoes and see which is the best fit for you. Don't try to find the cheapest shoe because it will likely not last long or be comfortable. Basketball is a great game, but it is a game that puts a lot of pressure on your feet. Finding the right basketball shoes that will support your feet and allow you to perform your best is absolutely essential.
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How to buy running shoe?

The idea of the tests was not to see how cheap a shoe you can get away with. All of the shoes tested were brand-name shoes sold in stores that cater to runners. Retail price tags ranged from $81 to $152 (￡40 to ￡75) in U.K. stores. Nearly every brand of running shoe has models that are relatively low, medium, and high priced. The high-priced shoes claim to have more features. Are they really worth the extra cost? "If you are thinking, 'Pay more for a better shoe,' think again," Abboud tells WebMD. "Do the expensive ones last longer? If they were put through a marathon, would the cushioning be better? We really couldn't find a difference there." In the study reported ahead of print today in the British Journal of Sports Medicine, Abboud and colleagues tested a low-, medium-, and high-priced running shoe from each of three brands. Each shoe was fitted with specially made insoles filled with 99 sensors to measure pressures placed on the foot.

The result: Low- and medium-cost running shoes cushioned the foot at least as well as -- and sometimes better than -- the high-priced shoes. Runners found no difference between the shoes in terms of comfort. And they were terrible at guessing the price. Abboud will not say which brands were tested -- yet. His group has already completed two larger studies that he says include every brand of running shoe on the market. When all the studies are published, Abboud says he will reveal the brand and model names. But Abboud is already delivering the punch line: No matter how he looks at them, high-priced running shoes aren't better than lower-priced models within the same brand.
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Shoes thrown at Bush on Iraq trip

A surprise visit by US President George Bush to Iraq has been overshadowed by an incident in which two shoes were thrown at him during a news conference. An Iraqi journalist was wrestled to the floor by security guards after he called Mr Bush "a dog" and threw his footwear, just missing the president. The US president has now continued to Afghanistan to inspect troops there. He arrived before dawn at Bagram air force base, and is due to hold talks with President Hamid Karzai. Earlier in Baghdad, Mr Bush and Iraqi PM Nouri Maliki signed the new security agreement between their countries. The pact calls for US troops to leave Iraq in 2011 - eight years after the 2003 invasion that has in part defined the Bush presidency.

Speaking just over five weeks before he hands over power to Barack Obama, Mr Bush also said the war in Iraq was not over and more work remained to be done. His previously unannounced visit came a day after Defence Secretary Robert Gates told US troops the Iraq mission was in its "endgame". In the middle of the news conference with Mr Maliki, Iraqi television journalist Muntadar al-Zaidi stood up and shouted "this is a goodbye kiss from the Iraqi people, dog," before hurling a shoe at Mr Bush which narrowly missed him. Showing the soles of shoes to someone is a sign of contempt in Arab culture. Muntadar al-Zaidi was quickly wrestled to the ground and hauled away. With his second shoe, which the president also managed to dodge, Mr Zaidi said: "This is for the widows and orphans and all those killed in Iraq."
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The shoes aren't about fashion, but function.

The secret of the shoe is in the sole. It's curved like a mini canoe. Bellevue Chiropractor Carl Jelstrup says that design helps your posture and stride. "The construction of the shoe helps your posture so you gradually start to straighten your posture," he says. "Your shoulders come in, and the gait itself changes into a more primitive gait." Jelstrup also adds that change in your posture helps cure back, hip and foot pain. Add he says the shoe helps build up muscle and can help get rid of dimple fat close to your skin known as cellulite. "When you increase muscular strength, you will invariably increase circulation and thereby decrease cellulite," he said. "Cellulite is simply an inflammatory condition of the circulation system."

A Big Buzz. As the owner of the Seattle store "MJ Feet," Melanie Grimes knows about shoes. She founded the store 30 years ago, and was the first shoe store in the state to sell Birkenstocks. When she heard about MBT's and what they do for your overall health, she picked up the line and started selling them. "It does what no other shoe or exercise routine does," Grimes said. "When you are walking in the course of your day, you are able to be improving your posture and increasing your circulation, and they are rumored to help fight cellulite, that's some of the big buzz." In fact, a British test showed a 50 percent reduction in cellulite in women who wore the shoe for just one month. And that's not all. Grimes says, "It reduces varicose veins, and tends to tone the muscle and increases the circulation and the posture and the main way it does that is by allowing your foot to move completely."
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Shock-Absorbing Shoes: Bad for Knees?

Shoes have traditionally been engineered to provide foot comfort and little previous attention has been directed to the effects that shoes may have on loading of osteoarthritic knees。 Impact of Shoes on Osteoarthritis According to the Arthritis Foundation, 21 million Americans have osteo......

Those shock-absorbing athletic shoes and clogs designed to protect and cushion the feet may be bad for arthritic knees. When researchers examined the effects of different types of footwear on people with knee osteoarthritis, they found that going barefoot put less stress on knee joints than wearing foot-stabilizing walking shoes or clogs. Flip-flops and a flexible walking shoe were also better choices for minimizing impact to the knees during normal walking. The researchers determined this by assessing a standard measure of knee joint impact, known as knee load. "Knee loads play an important role in the progression of knee osteoarthritis," researcher Najia Shakoor, MD, of Rush Medical College, says in a news release. "Shoes have traditionally been engineered to provide foot comfort and little previous attention has been directed to the effects that shoes may have on loading of osteoarthritic knees."
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Shoe Carnival reports profit fell 38% for third quarter

Shoe Carnival said Thursday that comparable-store sales fell 5 percent in the third quarter, leading to a 38 percent decrease in profit. The Evansville-based footwear retailer had net earnings of $2.6 million, or 21 cents per share, compared with net earnings of $4.2 million, or 33 cents per share, for the same period in 2007. Mark Lemond, chief executive officer and president of Shoe Carnival, said customers in its 311 stores throughout the Midwest, South and Southeast have less discretionary income. Although cash registers rang a little more regularly during the back-to-school season, he said, sales trended lower during September and October. Shoe Carnival's per-share earnings of 21 cents were anickel lower than Wall Street estimates. Shares fell $1, or 11.1 percent, to close at $8.02. At Shoe Carnival you''ll find an open format, catchy music, and friendly associates set the stage for a wonderful shopping experience. Throw an unbelievable product assortment, great brand names and value pricing in the mix and you get a one-stop footwear destination that satisfies the needs of the entire family. Shoe Carnival is partnering with Soles4Souls from March 30th to April 5th. Simply bring in a pair of gently worn shoes to any participating Shoe Carnival store and receive a $5 coupon good towards any thing in the store. All the footwear collected during this special charitable event will go to Soles4Souls.