Thom Browne wants to cancel adidas' stripes trademark

Last July, we had reported on the legal battle that arose between Thom Browne and adidas over the use of a striped logo (four for Browne's, three for adidas') that, according to the German sportswear giant, caused consumer confusion. In analyzing the issue, several complications had emerged: on the one hand, Browne claimed that he had agreed on the use of the logo with adidas, without mentioning the huge distinction between the two brands' placements; however, in the case of the brand's sportswear garments, the confusion seemed more plausible. Today that same process has been overturned by Browne's counteroffensive, which not only wants to prove that it did not plagiarize adidas but also wants to demand that adidas' Three-Stripes Logo registration be cancelled. 

Thom Browne vs. adidas

Thom Browne vs. adidas

Thom Browne vs. adidas

Thom Browne vs. adidas

Thom Browne vs. adidas

Indeed, the New York-based brand argues that adidas' rights to the 3-stripes motif do not exist, as their use «has not been exclusive» and that «numerous third parties use stripes, in multiple variations and iterations, on clothing and footwear». As The Fashion Law notes though, in Browne's own application adidas is accused on the one hand of failing to police the market and on the other of being overzealous in protecting its rights. The first contradiction in a case that promises to be very complex and could shake the sportswear world from the ground up. Thom Browne's argument rests on the fact that the three-stripes logo, referred to as adidas' "Three-Quadrilaterals Design," is «merely ornamental and/or aesthetically functional» and doesn't constitute an «indicia of source» and therefore the U.S. Patent Office (known as the USPTO) should never have registered the mark in 2016. 

According to Browne's lawyers, product photographs provided by adidas to the USPTO at the time would always show the three stripes along with the brand's lettering (i.e., the name "adidas") and/or its Badge of Sport, which would be the brand's triangular logo while the three stripes do not always appear. Accordingly, «the mark is not likely to be perceived by the consuming public as an identification of the source of the goods». The argument appears to be a callback to the European Union General Court's ruling in 2019 that had annulled adidas' three-stripe trademark registration which «constitute an ordinary figurative mark and have no distinctive character». The dispute had arisen in 2014 when the Belgian company Shoe Branding Europe failed to register a trademark with two stripes because it was too similar to adidas's trademark-practically an identical lawsuit to the one Browne filed.