Verdict in Düsseldorf - Adidas victorious in court as certain stripes are not prohibited.
In a recent court case, Adidas lost their fight against Nike, a leading US sportswear manufacturer, over the rights to side stripe patterns on sports pants. The Higher Regional Court of Düsseldorf ruled that not every stripe design can be attributed to Adidas AG. The courts explained that while Adidas is known for their three vertically aligned, equally wide stripes, not every stripe pattern on sports pants is necessarily their property. Other clothing companies use stripes as a decorative element, so the unique design of the strip pattern and the overall design of the clothing item should be considered when making a decision.
This is not the first time these two sportswear giants have gone head-to-head in court. In 2005, a similar dispute arose over the trademarks of both companies. Nike was prohibited from selling shoes featuring two stripes that were deemed too similar to Adidas's iconic logo. The court found that consumers could easily confuse the two designs.
The current case involved Nike's attempt to sell five sports pants with side stripes in Germany. One pair of pants was ruled to be too similar to Adidas's three-stripe trademark, and Nike was banned from selling them. However, the other four pants were found to be significantly different from Adidas's logo, and Nike was allowed to continue selling them in Germany. Nike had originally appealed against the court's decision, but the appeals court upheld the ban on the specific design of pants.
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- Despite the loss in their previous legal dispute with Adidas over stripe patterns in 2005, Nike still attempted to sell sports pants with side stripes in Germany, leading to another court case at the Düsseldorf Higher Regional Court.
- Originating from Germany, Adidas celebrated a victory in the Düsseldorf Higher Regional Court, where it was determined that not every striped design on sports pants can be considered an infringement on their three-stripe trademark.
- In a major development for the global sportswear industry, the Higher Regional Court of Düsseldorf ruled that Nike could continue selling four out of five pairs of sports pants with side stripes in Germany, as they were deemed significantly different from Adidas's iconic three-stripe logo.
Source: www.stern.de
