Sportswear manufacturers Adidas and Puma are embroiled in a copyright infringement battle, after Puma announced a new running shoe range which Adidas claimed was too similar to its ‘Boost’ trainers.
A German Court rejected Adidas’ bid to block Puma’s latest range, which the former believed infringed the patent of a soft, bouncy foam polyurethane that the three-stripe brand gained an exclusive contract to use back in 2011.
The foam polyurethane, manufactured by German chemicals firm BASF, provides a type of sole marketed as ‘ideal for running shoes’.
Adidas signed an exclusive deal with BASF for the technology in 2011 and sold 10 million pairs of its ‘Boost’ trainers in the running category alone in 2015.
Rival Puma then approached US-based Huntsman Corp in 2014 in pursuit of a similar chemical product – launching its ‘NRGY’ line last year following the collaboration.
But Adidas filed an injunction against the sale of Puma’s ‘NRGY’ range at Dusseldorf’s Regional Court this week, which was quickly thrown out by a Judge.
“Puma tried to show Adidas with this case that even though we are smaller, we will not give in that easily. We will fight for our rights,” said Neil Narriman, Puma’s head of intellectual property.
An Adidas spokesperson said in combat: “We will continue to vigorously protect our rights and will continue to take action in case of infringements”.