US producer of athletic footwear with spring technology, Spira Footwear has filed a lawsuit against the International Amateur Athletic Federation (IAAF) and the United States Association of Track and Field (USATF), the governing bodies for track and field both internationally and in the USA. The suit alleges that the application of IAAF and USATF Rule 143 which bans spring technology for competition constitutes a violation of the Sherman Anti-Trust Act and a restraint of trade.

Spira, which owns the patent rights to the WaveSpring technology in footwear, alleges that the USATF rules prohibiting spring technology has effectively prohibited its ability to gain market acceptance of its technology as most elite runners will not compete in Spira products for fear of disqualification or sanction by the USATF.

The IAAF rule requires that shoes for competition be submitted for approval to the IAAF's technical committee. Spira alleges that it followed the IAAF guidelines by submitting its shoes for approval in September, 2006. Despite repeated requests for a determination of its legality, Spira has yet to be provided with a response.

In order to bring attention to its perceived unfairness of the rule, Spira launched a ‘Banned in Boston’ campaign in 2006 offering $1 million to any runner who wins the Boston Marathon in the ‘banned’ shoe and runs the risk of disqualification.