[AKA2D '91]

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

African-American Sororities and Fraternities File
Trademark Infringement Suit Against Converse
Suit alleges that Converse gained at the expense of African-American
groups and consumers

Dallas, TX - December 17, 2003 - The Council of Presidents announced today
that they have sued sports apparel company Converse, Inc. for trademark
infringement and deceptive trade practices.

"We were concerned that Converse, using unfair competition and infringing
upon our groups' intellectual property, had deliberately and callously
decided to
target the members of our organizations for sales of its shoes without
obtaining any sort of permission from our groups," said Helen Owens, Chair
of the
Council of Presidents and national president of Sigma Gamma Rho Sorority,
Inc.

The lawsuit, which has been filed in the United District Court for the
Northern District of Texas, Dallas Division, maintains that Converse has
been manufacturing, marketing, and selling athletic footwear, called the
GreekPak, to members and supporters of African-American fraternities and
sororities and that this conduct constitutes trademark and trade dress
infringement, as well as unfair competition and deceptive trade practices.
As indicated
by Harry Johnson, national president of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc.,
"the
Converse shoes we're looking at contain the identical founding year and
organizational colors as our respective organizations and was an obvious
attempt by
Converse to capitalize on the goodwill our groups have worked so hard to
develop. This was no coincidence."

The lawsuit charges that Converse has enriched itself at the expense of the
African-American fraternities and sororities and the unsuspecting consumers
who
believe that Converse has permission from and endorsement by these
African-American groups to sell these shoes. The lawsuit seeks damages for
past acts of
infringement, punitive damages, and requests that Converse be enjoined from
continuing to sell these products without permission. Converse was purchased
by
Nike in September 2003.

"This lawsuit will send the message to large and small companies that our
organizations will aggressively protect our rights and will not tolerate
anyone infringing upon these rights without us taking action. If any
person or organization wants the right to market our intellectual property,
they must come to us to discuss a license or endorsement agreement. If they
don't, they may find themselves in court, said George Grace, national
president
of Omega Psi Phi Fraternity, Inc. To be fair, competition has to be based on
a
level playing field - companies must compete on the basis of originality and
according to the laws of this country. All we ask is that Converse play by
these rules and stop infringing our rights."

The Council of Presidents is comprised of the heads of the nine
predominately African-American fraternities and sororities, which includes
Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc., Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc., Kappa
Alpha
Psi Fraternity, Inc., Omega Psi Phi Fraternity, Inc., Delta Sigma Theta
Sorority, Inc., Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity, Inc., Zeta Phi Beta Sorority,
Inc., Sigma
Gamma Rho Sorority, Inc., and Iota Phi Theta Fraternity Inc. The Council of
Presidents represents the interests of the hundreds of thousands of its
members, who are in fields such as medicine, law, professional sports,
bipartisan
elective offices, accounting, engineering, aviation, finance and banking,
print
and broadcast media, entertainment, sales, law enforcement, firefighting,
communications, teaching, telecommunications, data processing, human
resources,
social work, etc.

The Council of Presidents collaborates on matters upon which the National
Pan
Hellenic Council organizations share a common interest. The nine NPHC member
organizations each have hundreds of chapters on college campuses and alumni
chapters in cities across the world and are actively involved in programs
that
enrich the educational and economic lives of African-Americans.

-Intellectual property litigation attorneys Aubrey "Nick" Pittman of Dallas,
Texas (214-459-3454) and John S. Kendall of Chicago, Illinois
(312-857-1997) represent the fraternities and sororities in the lawsuit.

Contact:
Helen J. Owens, Chair
Council of Presidents
8800 South Stony Island Avenue
Chicago, IL 60617
773-873-9000 >>