Three stripes

For other uses, see Three stripes (disambiguation).

Adidas logo.

Three stripes is a registered trademark of Adidas since 1949.¹

A Finnish sports brand Karhu Sports sold the three stripe trademark to Adidas for (the equivalent of) €1,600 euros and two bottles of Whiskey.²³

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 (Wimbledon), other Grand Slam tournaments and the International Tennis Federation over restrictions on manufacturer's identifications placed on player clothing. ⁴

In popular culture

The musical artist Lady Sovereign references the Three Stripes trademark in her song "Hoodie" from the album Public Warning. The album was released in 2006 and had multiple remixes, again involving references to the Three Stripes trademark.

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.⁵⁶

Adidas v Charles O'Neill and Co Ltd 1983 ILRM 112.⁷
1995: settled with Walmart⁵
2000: Marca Mode v Adidas decided at the European Court of Justice (Case C-425/98)⁷⁸
2002: settled with Walmart⁵
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.⁹¹⁰⁸
2004 (August): Polo Ralph Lauren¹¹
2005: Abercrombie & Fitch, in Portland¹¹
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.¹⁴¹⁵
2008 (May): Kmart⁶
2008: Payless ShoeSource, ordered to pay $304.6 million; later reduced to $64.4 million. No. 01-CV-01655-RE⁶¹⁶
2008 (October): Wal-Mart Stores Inc., third confidential settlement.⁵⁶¹⁷
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

References

^ "The Adidas Story - Year By Year". Adidas Press.
^ Smit, Barbara (2007). Pitch Invasion, Adidas, Puma and the making of modern sport. Penguin. p. 44. ISBN 0-14-102368-6.
^ Simon Chadwick, Dave Arthur (2007). International cases in the business of sport. Butterworth-Heinemann. p. 438. ISBN 0-7506-8543-3.
^ Allbusiness.com
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d "Adidas could cash in on battle". China Daily. 2008-06-18.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f Erik Larson (January 17, 2009). "Adidas Sues Aldo Over Claim It Copied Three-Stripe Design". Bloomberg L.P.
^ ^a ^b Anne-Marie Mooney Cotter, Law Society of Ireland, Garrett Breen (2003). Intellectual property law. Routledge Cavendish. pp. 12,23–4. ISBN 1-85941-805-8.
^ ^a ^b Three stripes victorious – Adidas for the third time before the European Court of Justice
^ Osborn, Andrew (11 July 2003). "Adidas told its three stripes don't constitute a trademark". The Guardian (London). Retrieved May 25, 2010.
^ "Adidas- Salomon AG and Adidas Benelux BV v. Fitnessworld Trading Ltd". Lawdit Solicitors. 13 July 2003.
^ ^a ^b "Adidas sues Abercrombie over three-stripe logo". Portland Business Journal. January 12, 2005.
^ 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.
^ Managingip.com
^ "Jury Awards Adidas a Record-Setting $305M in Damages, But Payless Fights for Reversal". LawUpdates.com. May 19, 2008.
^ Greg Thompson. "Three Stripes, You’re Out!".
^ John Simmons (16 January 2005). "Three stripes and you're in - how Adidas went for gold". The Observer (London).

External links

[1] "The Adidas Story - Year By Year". Adidas Press.

[smit-2] Smit, Barbara (2007). Pitch Invasion, Adidas, Puma and the making of modern sport. Penguin. p. 44. ISBN 0-14-102368-6.

[3] Simon Chadwick, Dave Arthur (2007). International cases in the business of sport. Butterworth-Heinemann. p. 438. ISBN 0-7506-8543-3.

[4] Allbusiness.com

[cd-5] "Adidas could cash in on battle". China Daily. 2008-06-18.

[bloomberg-6] ^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f Erik Larson (January 17, 2009). "Adidas Sues Aldo Over Claim It Copied Three-Stripe Design". Bloomberg L.P.

[cotter-7] Anne-Marie Mooney Cotter, Law Society of Ireland, Garrett Breen (2003). Intellectual property law. Routledge Cavendish. pp. 12,23–4. ISBN 1-85941-805-8.

[ilaw-8] Three stripes victorious – Adidas for the third time before the European Court of Justice

[9] Osborn, Andrew (11 July 2003). "Adidas told its three stripes don't constitute a trademark". The Guardian (London). Retrieved May 25, 2010.

[10] "Adidas- Salomon AG and Adidas Benelux BV v. Fitnessworld Trading Ltd". Lawdit Solicitors. 13 July 2003.

[pbj-11] "Adidas sues Abercrombie over three-stripe logo". Portland Business Journal. January 12, 2005.

[12] European IP Bulletin, Issue 22, May - Trade Mark: Adidas v Marca at the Court of Appeal in the Netherlands

[13] Adidas’ three stripes trade mark: Should Freihaltebedürfnis (public interest) be considered in the infringement assessment?, 25.04.07 - Marc van Wijngaarden

[14] David Lawsky and Darren Ennis; editing by Andrew Hurst (April 10, 2008). "EU court backs Adidas over three stripes". Reuters.

[15] Managingip.com

[16] "Jury Awards Adidas a Record-Setting $305M in Damages, But Payless Fights for Reversal". LawUpdates.com. May 19, 2008.

[17] Greg Thompson. "Three Stripes, You’re Out!".

[18] John Simmons (16 January 2005). "Three stripes and you're in - how Adidas went for gold". The Observer (London).

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

11

12

13

14

15

16

17

18

Three stripes Ultimate Study Guide