The federal district court of Portland, Oregon has issued a preliminary injunction against Skechers USA, ordering the company to stop selling its Onix, Relaxed Fit Cross Court TR and Supernova running shoes, saying that Adidas would otherwise suffer irreparable damage. Skechers pointed out that it had already discontinued sales of these models, noting that they were “commercially insignificant,” but insisted that the related designs have long been in the public domain and said that it intended to file an appeal.
Adidas filed its lawsuit last September, charging infringement of intellectual property rights. The court's decision centered on the Onix' similarity with Adidas' famous Stan Smith model, of which 40 million pairs have been sold since its launch. The court noted that among other things the fact that Skechers' website included the term “adidas Stan Smith” in its source code, thus directing consumers to the Onix when making a search. The court barred Skechers from calling one of its running shoes Supernova because it is a trademark registered by Adidas.
In collecting testimonies, the Oregon court uncovered a “Skecherizing” process under which “designers transform market trends into unique footwear products... prominently featuring Skechers' famous marks, brands and logos.” The court added that this process led to the situation in which Adidas and Skechers argued about the similarity of their products. There have been at least seven cases since 1995 when the two companies met in court or settled their disputes out of court. The last settlement occurred in April 2013.
