Shoemaker Converse is suing a range of companies including Wal-Mart and Ralph Lauren for infringing on one of its 100-year-old designs. The company is complaining that its rivals have copied the iconic Chuck Taylor design which was first released in 1917. Converse has filed legal papers in New York complaining about companies based in Canada, Australia, Italy, China and Japan. Converse, which is a subsidiary of Nike, also wants the International Trade Commission to ban sales of the imported replicas. The company’s chief executive Jim Calhoun said he has no objection to fair competition, however, ‘we do not believe companies have a right to copy the Chuck’s trademarked look. Converse said it has sold one billion copies of the shoe and has spent hundreds of millions advertising it.