Three stripes is a registered trademark of Adidas since 1949.[1]
Karhu Sports sold the three stripe trademark to Adidas for (the equivalent of) 1600 euros and two bottles of Whiskey.[2][3]
[edit] Branding in sports
In 1998, Adidas sued the National Collegiate Athletic Association over their rules limiting the size and number of commercial logos on team uniforms and apparel. Adidas withdrew the suit, and the two groups established guidelines as to what three-stripe designs would be considered uses of the Adidas trademark.[citation needed]
In 2006 Adidas sued All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club (Wimbleton), other Grand Slam tournaments and the International Tennis Federation over restrictions on manufacturer's identifications placed on player clothing. [4]
[edit] Trademark disputes
In the decade between 1999 and 2009, Adidas has sued about three dozen retailers in the U.S. and Europe to protect the brand.[5][6]
- adidas v Charles O'Neill and Co Ltd 1983 ILRM 112.[7]
- 1995: settled with Walmart[5]
- 2000: Marca Mode v Adidas decided at the European Court of Justice (Case C-425/98)[7][8]
- 2002: settled with Walmart[5]
- 2003: filed a lawsuit in a British court challenging Fitness World Trading's use of a two-stripe motif similar to Adidas's three stripes.[9][10][8]
- 2004 (August): Polo Ralph Lauren[11]
- 2005: Abercrombie & Fitch, in Portland[11]
- 2005 (March): Dutch Court of Appeal decided that Adidas had not sufficiently demonstrated that the Marca two-stripe design did not infringe, based on the Benelux Trademarks Act.[12] (see Benelux Office for Intellectual Property)
- 2007 (February ): Dutch Supreme Court ruled in the case Adidas/Marca Mode II that the two stripe of Marca et al. did not infringe the three stripe trade mark of Adidas.[13]
- 2008 (April): European Court of Justice decided in favour of Adidas, against Marca Mode, C&A, H&M Hennes & Mauritz and Vendex KBB, that two-stripes could infringe on the Adidas three-stripe trademark.[14][15]
- 2008 (May): Kmart[6]
- 2008: Payless ShoeSource, ordered to pay $304.6 million; later reduced to $64.4 million. No. 01-CV-01655-RE[6][16]
- 2008 (October): Wal-Mart Stores Inc., third confidential settlement.[5][6][17]
- 2009: Aldo Group Inc., filed January 14 in federal court in Portland, claiming a breach of out-of-court settlements between the companies in 2004 and 2006. Adidas America Inc. v. Aldo Group Inc., 3:09- cv-00056 [6]
Adidas has also settled with Steven Madden Ltd., Target Corp. and Nordstrom Inc. before going to trial.[6]
[edit] Further reading
- Conrad Brunner (2004). All day I dream about sport : the story of the Adidas brand. London: Cyan. ISBN 1904879128. [18]
[edit] References
- ^ "The adidas Story - Year By Year". Adidas Press. http://www.press.adidas.com/en/DesktopDefault.aspx/tabid-10/555_read-1209/.
- ^ Smit, Barbara (2007). Pitch Invasion, Adidas, Puma and the making of modern sport. Penguin. pp. 44. ISBN 0141023686.
- ^ Simon Chadwick, Dave Arthur (2007). International cases in the business of sport. Butterworth-Heinemann. p. 438. ISBN 0750685433.
- ^ [1]
- ^ a b c d "Adidas could cash in on battle". China Daily. 2008-06-18. http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/cndy/2008-06/18/content_6771707.htm.
- ^ a b c d e f Erik Larson (January 17, 2009). "Adidas Sues Aldo Over Claim It Copied Three-Stripe Design". Bloomberg L.P.. http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601127&sid=acyc0NNQd0vY&refer=law.
- ^ a b Anne-Marie Mooney Cotter, Law Society of Ireland, Garrett Breen (2003). Intellectual property law. Routledge Cavendish. pp. 12,23-4. ISBN 1859418058.
- ^ a b Three stripes victorious – Adidas for the third time before the European Court of Justice
- ^ "Adidas told its three stripes don't constitute a trademark". The Guardian. 11 July 2003. http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/story/0,3604,995976,00.html.
- ^ "Adidas- Salomon AG and Adidas Benelux BV v. Fitnessworld Trading Ltd". Lawdit Solicitors. 13 July 2003. http://www.lawdit.co.uk/reading_room/room/view_article.asp?name=../articles/Adidas.htm.
- ^ a b "Adidas sues Abercrombie over three-stripe logo". Portland Business Journal. January 12, 2005. http://portland.bizjournals.com/portland/stories/2005/01/10/daily25.html.
- ^ European IP Bulletin, Issue 22, May - Trade Mark: Adidas v Marca at the Court of Appeal in the Netherlands
- ^ Adidas’ three stripes trade mark: Should Freihaltebedürfnis (public interest) be considered in the infringement assessment?, 25.04.07 - Marc van Wijngaarden
- ^ David Lawsky and Darren Ennis; editing by Andrew Hurst (April 10, 2008). "EU court backs Adidas over three stripes". Reuters. http://www.reuters.com/article/rbssConsumerGoodsAndRetailNews/idUSL1047327720080410.
- ^ [2]
- ^ "Jury Awards Adidas a Record-Setting $305M in Damages, But Payless Fights for Reversal". LawUpdates.com. May 19, 2008. http://www.lawupdates.com/summary/jury_awards_adidas_a_record_setting_305m_in_damages_but_payless_fights_for_.
- ^ Greg Thompson. "Three Stripes, You’re Out!". http://www.law.louisville.edu/students/thebrand/2008/10/29/three-stripes-youre-out/.
- ^ John Simmons (16 January 2005). "Three stripes and you're in - how Adidas went for gold". The Observer. http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2005/jan/16/marketingandpr.business.
[edit] External links
