Fuente: Source

The latest round of the international legal dispute between Adidas and Thom Browne over stripes printed on garments such as sweatshirts and T-shirts arrived in London on Wednesday with a hearing at the High Court. Adidas has tried to withdraw Thom Browne’s range of products comprising its characteristic four-bar motif from the United Kingdom market, claiming it would confuse consumers.

En 2021 Thom Browne demandó previamente a Adidas en Londres en un intento por revocar varias marcas comerciales de Adidas que presentan su logo de tres rayas. La marca neoyorquina insistió en que el titán de la ropa deportiva estaba intentando efectivamente establecer un monopolio sobre el uso de rayas en la ropa.

The New York-based brand also reiterated that Adidas initiated the four-bar motif more than 15 years ago when the German sportswear company asked Thom Browne to move away from its then three-bar motif. The designer has said in the past, that this design was motivated by his interest in collegiate sportswear following his time as a swimmer at the University of Notre Dame in the U.S.

However, this time Adidas sued Thom Browne for allegedly violating the terms of its brand by selling sportswear and leisure products with four stripes, accusing the company of exploiting its image and brand reputation.

Nevertheless, it is worth mentioning that last year, the two companies were in dispute in the United States, where juries ruled that parallel lines used in their designs did not infringe the three-stripe trademark or cause confusion among buyers, a decision upheld on appeal in May.

Meanwhile, last May, Nike also partially won a battle for the three-stripe trademark against Adidas during a second appeal hearing between the competitors.

These decisions have been made as evidence has been offered to show how the three-stripe design can be commonly found on a wide range of products from brands such as Palm Angels, Urban Outfitters, Gucci, Moncler, Tommy Hilfiger, White Company, JW Anderson, Karen Millen, Balmain, K-Swiss, Jack Wills, Paul Smith, Jack & Jones, Prada, Coach, Fiorelli, and others.