News briefs – Page 30
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News briefs
Intersport retailer makes a fuss over the newly extended German retail lockdown
After a consultation with the state governments, German Chancellor Angela Merkel announced on Jan. 5 that a nationwide retail lockdown for the sale of non-essential goods will be prolonged until Jan. 31 because of the ongoing high level of contaminations from the Covid-19 virus. It started on Dec. 16 and ...
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News briefsEU reaches an agreement in principle to facilitate investments in China
After seven years of talks, the European Union and China have agreed in principle on an investment agreement after their leaders met on a conference call on Dec. 30. The parties had set the end of 2020 as the deadline to strike a deal. The European Commission said that the ...
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News briefs
Adidas opposes a proposed Thom Browne mark
In its latest move to defend its Three Stripes, Adidas has filed an opposition with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office’s Trademark Trial and Appeal Board (TTAB) against a trademark application filed by Thom Browne in February. Adidas charges that the New York-based designer intends to use a logo consisting ...
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News briefs
An anti-trust probe against Alibaba
The Chinese government’s State Administration for Market Regulation (SAMR) has launched an anti-trust investigation against the Alibaba Group to verify charges that its marketplaces require merchants to sign exclusive agreements that prevent them from offering products on other internet platforms. At the same time, the People’s Bank of China, which ...
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News briefs
Australian activewear firm sued over alleged anti-virus clothes
Lorna Jane, a manufacturer and retailer of women’s activewear with headquarters in Brisbane, is being taken to court by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) for allegedly making a false claim that a range of its activewear could provide protection against Covid-19. In July the company released its “anti-virus ...
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News briefs
Major burglary at Specialized headquarters
The headquarters of Specialized Bicycle Components in Morgan Hill, California, was hit by a daytime break-in and robbery on Sunday, Dec. 13. According to reports in The Mercury News, the thieves stole 18 high-value bicycles worth more than $160,000 in total. Police officers were called at about 4:35 pm by ...
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News briefs
A collective e-commerce platform for Spanish buying groups
Many Spanish independent sports retailers do their purchasing through a variety of buying groups. Diffusion Sport reports that Spain’s National Association of Buying Groups and Organized Commerce (Anceco) has brought to fruition a two-decade-old idea to gather SMEs with similar profiles into a collaborative scheme to enable them to compete ...
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News briefs
Anna Ferrino will run Assosport
Anna Ferrino, the 58-year-old president of the eponymous Italian brand of outdoor products, has been elected as the new president of Assosport, the Italian sporting goods industry association. After four years on its executive board, she is taking the place of Federico De Ponti for the next two years. Anna ...
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News briefs
Afydad to launch a virtual showroom
Afydad, the Spanish sporting goods industry association, is launching a digital marketing campaign as well as a digital platform for its members with B2B and B2C options. Each brand will have its own B2B space in a 360-degree virtual showroom, itself branded under the name “Spain Is Sports,” while an ...
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News briefs
Crocs implements AI solution to block unauthorized web ads
Crocs has partnered with Namogoo Technologies on the implementation of a solution that automatically prevents unauthorized and distracting ads from appearing on the Crocs e-commerce site. The Namogoo Customer Journey Hijacking Prevention solution uses artificial intelligence (AI) to identify and block these ads, which are designed to look like native ...
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News briefs
Union Sport & Cycle announces new board members
The French Union Sport & Cycle has announced Pascale Gozzi of Sport 2000 and Julien Gauthier of Skiset as new vice-presidents of the organization following its recent general assembly on Oct. 13. They succeed Christophe Mostaert and Paul Andrieux, but both of them will remain in the board. Jérôme Valentin ...
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News briefs
Google could make new concessions to get Fitbit's takeover approved
According to Reuters, the deadline for the approval by European anti-trust authorities of Google’s $2.1 billion acquisition of Fitbit has been extended from Dec. 23 to Jan. 8 after Google expressed some readiness to change the concessions it would be willing to make. This came after receiving feedback from a ...
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News briefs
Goat.com is barred from selling clothing
A New York federal judge has granted a preliminary injunction against the Goat Group in response to a complaint by Goat Fashion, a London-based label of women’s and children’s clothing founded in 2001, asking it to stop selling apparel on its sneaker-focused marketplace. The court agreed that consumer confusion about ...
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News briefs
Record golf memberships in the U.K.
The number of commercial golf courses and driving ranges affiliated with the UK Golf Federation (UKGF) has reached 936, after breaking the threshold of 900 this summer. The federation offers its members 13 “business support services” free of charge as well as a reservation service for venues and courses through ...
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News briefs
Stefan Herzog becomes president at VDS
Stefan Herzog, who has been secretary general of the German sporting goods retailers’ federation (VDS) since 2018 and president since last spring of Fedas, the European umbrella organization of the specialist sports retail trade, has moved to the top of the German association. He was appointed as VDS’ new president ...
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News briefs
Fesi co-signs joint-letters on the Digital Services Act
On Sept. 22, the European Federation of the Sporting Goods Industry (Fesi) signed two joint letters with key industry associations and brands in view of the future publication by the European Union of its planned Digital Services Act. The proposal, expected to be approved by the end of the year, ...
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News briefs
X-Technology Swiss loses its H-Dry trademark
The European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO) has ruled against X-Technology Swiss of Zurich, revoking its trademark for the H-Dry brand name and related rights retroactively to the start of the legal dispute in December 2018. In reaction, Matteo Morlacchi – chief executive of the plaintiff, Luxembourg srl, and of ...
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News briefs
Germany to admit foreign participants in trade fairs
Foreign visitors are expected to be able to attend the next Ispo Munich show, scheduled for Jan. 31 to Feb. 3.The government of Germany has decided to grant entry into its territory – even from outside the EU, the Schengen area or Germany’s list of approved countries – to foreign ...
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News briefs
Policy Hub convenes to set the European agenda for EPR
On Sept. 2, the Policy Hub – consisting of stakeholders in six major industry associations (Fesi among them) as well as interested organizations and three apparel and footwear companies – conducted a virtual workshop on what the EU is calling extended producer responsibility (EPR). The chief topics were administrative transparency, ...
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News briefsMarkus Wolf is the new president of Switzerland’s SPAF
On the occasion of the second SportBusinessNetworkDay in Lenzburg, the two Swiss sporting goods associations, ASMAS (Association of Swiss Sporting Goods Retailers) and SPAF (Association of Swiss Sporting Goods Suppliers), held their general meetings. Markus Wolf was elected as the new president of SPAF as Guido Mätzler retired after 30 ...
