The General Court of the European Union decided today to uphold a previous decision made by the European Intellectual Property Office (Euipo) that nullified a three-stripe trademark that Adidas had registered in 2014 for clothing, footwear and headgear. The news led to a drop of more than 2 percent in Adidas' share price.
Indicating that it has not yet decided whether to appeal the ruling to a higher body, such as the European Court of Justice, Adidas said that it was disappointed by the court's decision but pointed out that it is limited to a particular execution of the three-stripe mark and that it “does not impact on the broad scope of protection that Adidas has on its well-known 3-Stripe mark in various forms in Europe.”
The company added that the verdict does not affect its ability to use the three-stripe mark or its ability to enforce other registrations, so none of its inventories are affected. Adidas further notes that the negative decision of the General Court has no impact on its existing registrations or on its ability to enforce them against imitations. It says that the brand can continue to use the three stripes in classical presentations or in more modern ones, regardless of the colors used.
Adidas already has trademark protection for a slanted version of its three-stripe logo. It wanted to be granted similar rights for the three equidistant stripes disposed in any direction.
The action started after a Belgian company, Shoe Branding Europe, was challenged by Adidas over the use of a two-stripe logo in its Patrick branded shoes and clothing. The two stripes run in the opposite direction to those of Adidas, and its claim was eventually overruled.
Adidas wanted to obtain a court decision to the effect that its three parallel stripes had acquired a “distinctive character” in the European Union, regardless of the direction in which they were featured. It provided evidence from three countries. However, the European court concluded that the logo was only an “ordinary figurative mark.”
