The sportswear company Adidas has scored a
victory in over its competitor in the European Court regarding its trademark stripes
on the side of its sports shoes. The court rules that using the stripe would
infringe on the IP of Adidas. The court upheld the rulings of the European Intellectual Property Office
dismissed actions brought by Shoe Branding Europe (Cases
T-85/16 and T-629/16).
Shoe
Branding Europe is a Belgian company that turned to the EU IP Office to
have the two stripes on its shoes protected. It claimed that the horizontal
stripes in its design run from the sole towards the ankle and not (as in case
of Adidas) towards the toe. The company also pointed out that its shoes featured
two stripes and not three as Adidas shoes do.
However, since the similarity between the
two brands was just too similar, the Court sided with Adidas and refused to register
Shoe Branding Europe’s trademark registration. The similarly between the two
designs was just too much and would confuse consumers. In addition, the Court
considered that it would be likely that that Shoe Branding Europe unfairly
exploited the reputation of the Adidas brand. It therefore ruled that there
were no grounds to grant registration of the trademark requested by Shoe
Branding Europe.
What do you think? How important are those
stripes to you when you buy new sports shoes? Feel free to put in your two
cents!
