The Top 10 Biggest Trademark Battles of 2019
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Adidas Vs Shoe Branding Europe
It’s not the first time Adidas has encountered IP issues over its widely popular three striped logo, and yet again in 2019 it faced a trademark dispute against a rival shoemaker.
The three-stripe logo was first registered by Adidas’s Founder, Adi Dassler, on a football boot in August 1949. In 2014, a new trademark was established for the logo, with a specific description as follows: “Three parallel equidistant stripes of identical width, applied on the product in any direction” on clothing, hats and shoes.”
In 2016, German sportswear manufacturer Shoe Branding Europe attempted to have the trademark annulled, presumably for design reasons, and in 2019 the request was granted by the EU IPO, on the basis that in fact, Adidas had at this point failed to “prove that that mark has acquired, throughout the territory of the EU, distinctive character following the use which had been made of it.”
This means that if a shoe or clothing brand decides to go with a three striped design, it may very well be challenged by Adidas, but will also likely win. Adidas can still appeal the IPO’s decision, but until it finds sufficient evidence that a three striped logo is always and immediately associated with its brand, it may struggle to overturn the ruling.
In a public statement, Adidas concluded: “This ruling is limited to this particular execution of the three-stripe mark and does not impact on the broad scope of protection that Adidas has on its well-known three-stripe mark in various forms in Europe.”
