According to the BBC, since 2008, Adidas has initiated more than 90 legal proceedings related to its trademark. In the most recent dispute, the court sided against Adidas’s view.
German sportswear manufacturer Adidas has lost a lawsuit related to a trademark dispute. It tells about it, among other things BBC (switch to another service).
According to the BBC, Adidas and the fashion designer by Thom Browne the eponymous luxury brand argued in the courts about whether the four straight stripes used in Browne’s products are too similar to Adidas’ well-known three stripes.
Adidas demanded more than 7.8 million dollars in damages from the company, or about 7.2 million euros.
Browne considered it unlikely for buyers to mix up the brands because, among other things, they have different numbers of stripes. The company also appealed to the fact that brands have different target groups, and that using stripes in design is common.
The court sided with Browne’s company in the case.
Almost a hundred legal battles in the last 15 years
According to the BBC, Adidas started legal proceedings in 2021, but the dispute between the companies goes back more than 15 years.
Browne originally used three stripes on his jackets, but agreed to abandon them at Adidas’s insistence in 2007. Instead, Browne added a fourth stripe to the models.
The company has expressed its hope that the outcome of the legal battle will inspire everyone whose actions larger companies are trying to challenge.
According to the BBC, Adidas’ spokesperson commented that the company was disappointed with the court’s decision. However, according to the spokesperson, Adidas plans to continue to closely monitor its intellectual property rights.
Based on court documents, since 2008, Adidas has initiated more than 90 legal processes and signed more than 200 settlement agreements related to its trademark.
In 2019 General Court of the European Union (you will switch to another service) denied Adidas permission to own the three-stripe brand. According to the court, Adidas’ design is not original enough to merit trademark protection.