Global sportswear manufacturer, Adidas has won a case at the EU General Court over an application from Belgian footwear manufacturer, Shoe Branding, to trade mark a two stripe design.
The court said that the application could not be allowed as the Shoe Branding design could be confused with the iconic three stripe trade mark belonging to Adidas.
It said granting the trade mark could allow Shoe Branding to unfairly exploit the value of Adidas’s brand, potentially damaging the sportswear manufacturer’s reputation.
The original trade mark application was submitted by Shoe Branding in 2009. Then in 2015, the dispute was returned to the EU Intellectual Property Office for further consideration on the basis of the similarity between Adidas’s trade mark and Shoe Branding’s application.
Shoe Branding now has the option of taking the case to the Court of Justice of the European Union.
Adidas has a long history of taking action to defend its three stripe logo, having taken on Tesla, H&M and Forever 21 in the past.
However, in a twist to the case, Shoe Branding launched distinct proceedings with the EU Intellectual Property Office in 2014 arguing that the three stripe mark is not sufficiently distinctive to be a valid trademark.
The Second Board of Appeal of the EU Intellectual Property Office agreed with Shoe Branding, saying that Adidas’s trade mark lacks “secondary meaning” or “acquired distinctiveness”.
Adidas has appealed the decision to remove the mark from the EU Trade Mark Register and the case is set to be heard by the EU General Court later in 2018.