+48 22 355 32 21

®
Adidas loses the battle against Thom Browne over its iconic stripes

Adidas loses the battle against Thom Browne over its iconic stripes

The sportswear company Adidas has one distinctive trademark that almost everyone recognizes – three stripes that, when combined, form a kind of triangle. This graphic symbol has recently n the subject of a dispute between the company and fashion designer Thom Browne, and in January 2023, a ruling was issued that was unfavorable to Adidas.

Table of contents:

Thom Browne is gaining momentum

In 2018, the Italian brand Ermenegildo Zegna acquired 85% of the shares in Thom Browne’s company for a considerable sum of 500 million dollars. This influx of capital and foreign investment boosted the designer’s brand recognition. Thom Browne himself remained the creative director, while holding 15% of the shares. At the same time, the company sought to obtain trademark protection for its logo, which consists of three vertical stripes. These circumstances did not sit well with the German corporation Adidas, which argued that the competition was based on their logo and aimed to attract customers in this way.

The allegation of exploiting the popularity of Adidas stripes

The parties engaged in amicable negotiations, but due to the lack of results, Adidas filed a lawsuit against Thom Browne in 2021 for trademark infringement. The lawsuit raised the aforementioned arguments about deliberately misleading consumers by using stripes in its logo. As a result, the German company demanded $7.8 million in damages. The justification stated that the amount consisted of $800,000, which represented the equivalent of royalties and license fees, and the remaining part was the amount that the Thom Browne brand allegedly earned from the sale of products bearing the disputed trademark.

Thom Browne wins

In its response, the defendant explicitly stated that its company does not compete with Adidas due to the different profile of the products offered. Primarily, it was compared that the compression tights offered by the defendant cost over $700, while Adidas leggings cost less than $100. Also, the products offered by both brands are aimed at different customers, and therefore the lawsuit is unfounded.

After hearing the case, the New York court, together with the jury, ruled on January 12, 2023, that Thom Browne did not infringe on Adidas’ trademark rights in any way, and therefore is not liable for the German company’s decline in sales.

The verdict did not please Adidas, which announced that it is considering appealing it. The near future will certainly show whether we will have another round in this dispute, or whether the German fashion house will drop the case and accept the American court’s verdict.

Table of contents:

Thom Browne did not infringe on Adidas’s trademark rights, and therefore is not liable for the German company’s decline in sales.

Start character scan now

Fill out the form and we will get back to you within the next … with a preliminary quote.

    Jaki znak mamy zbadać?


    Wybierz „znak słowny”, jeżeli chcesz zbadać oznaczenie słowne, i wpisz je w okienku poniżej. Możesz podać tylko jedno oznaczenie.
    Wybierz „znak graficzny lub słowno-graficzny”, jeżeli Twój znak ma określoną postać graficzną. W okienku poniżej wpisz elementy słowne, jeżeli takie pojawiają się na grafice, i dodaj plik zawierający grafikę znaku. Możesz przesłać tylko jeden plik o maksymalnym rozmiarze 1mb.

    Podaj szczegółowo, dla jakich towarów lub usług będzie używany Twój znak. W okienku poniżej wyszukaj odpowiedni termin, a następnie kliknij na niego, by dodać towar lub usługę do listy. Możesz dodać jednocześnie wiele towarów lub usług. Przed przejściem do następnego kroku upewnij się, że na liście znajdują się wszystkie towary lub usługi – później nie będzie można jej zmodyfikować!

    jakich produktów lub usług dotyczy rejestracja