Adidas: court gives extra protection to the brand's parallel stripes

By

Olivier Guyot

Published
Feb 28, 2016

Is the three stripes' brand about to become the stripes' brand? A recent ruling of the European Union's Court of Justice has rejected an appeal by the Shoe Branding Europe company.

In 2009, the Belgian company asked OHIM, the EU's office for trademark protection, to register a design featuring two parallel brands on its footwear as the brand's identifying element. Adidas reacted by disputing the request.
Once brought before the court, the litigation turned into the German giant's favour: the two stripes were of the same width as Adidas' and, according to the court, the distinctive elements were too similar. The Belgian company appealed against the sentence, but the European Union's Court of Justice has recently confirmed the initial ruling.

The two parallel stripes cannot then be registered by Shoe Branding Europe. The ruling has made Adidas, and its three stripes, all the more solid.