Adidas' three stripes got a big favor from the European Court of Justice, which said that “Adidas may oppose the registration, as a community mark, of parallel stripes placed on the side of sports shoes.” The Office of Harmonization in the Internal Market (OHIM), which registers trademarks for the European Union, had previously granted a request by a Belgian company, Shoe Branding Europe, to register a logo with two parallel marks on sports shoes, finding no similarities with Adidas three-stripe logo. Adidas opposed the registration, and General Court in Luxembourg backed its arguments in May 2015. Shoe Branding Europe then appealed the decision to the European Court of Justice, which has now ruled in Adidas' favor.

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