Three stripes is a trademark of Adidas consisting of three parallel lines, which typically feature along the side of Adidas apparel. Adidas was known for this branding early in its history, with its owner, Adolf Dassler, describing it as "The three stripe company".
Designs for shoes registered in 1949 incorporated the three stripes along the side.
A Finnish sports brand Karhu Sports sold the three stripe trademark to Adidas for (the equivalent of) EUR1,600 euros and two bottles of Whiskey.
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Branding in sports
In 1998, Adidas sued the National Collegiate Athletic Association over their rules limiting the size and number of commercial logos on team uniforms and apparel. Adidas withdrew the suit, and the two groups established guidelines as to what three-stripe designs would be considered uses of the Adidas trademark.
In late 2004, rival sporting good manufacturers filed a complaint to the International Olympic Committee (IOC) over Adidas being allowed to exceed the 20 cm2 limit permitted for branding with the three stripes. Adidas argued that the trademark device was a design element rather than a logo and despite being an IOC sponsor, which led to accusations of Adidas receiving preferential treatment, the three stripes were banned by the Olympic movement starting with the 2006 Winter Games. However, Adidas circumvented the ban by using a modified three stripe design, combining them with the number 3, for the 2006 games.
In 2006 Adidas sued All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club (Wimbledon), other Grand Slam tournaments and the International Tennis Federation over restrictions on manufacturer's identifications placed on player clothing.
In popular culture
The musical artist Lady Sovereign references the Three Stripes trademark in her song "Hoodie" from the album Public Warning. The album was released in 2006 and had multiple remixes, again involving references to the Three Stripes trademark.
Trademark disputes
Adidas has sued or threatened to sue retailers to protect the brand, including the following cases:
- 1983: Adidas v Charles O'Neill and Co Ltd 1983 ILRM 112.
- 1995: settled a dispute with Walmart
- 2000: Marca Mode v Adidas decided at the European Court of Justice (Case C-425/98)
- 2002: settled with Walmart
- 2003: filed a lawsuit in a British court challenging Fitness World Trading's use of a two-stripe motif similar to Adidas's three stripes.
- 2004 (August): Polo Ralph Lauren
- 2005: Abercrombie & Fitch, in Portland
- 2005 (March): Dutch Court of Appeal decided that Adidas had not sufficiently demonstrated that the Marca two-stripe design did not infringe, based on the Benelux Trademarks Act. (see Benelux Office for Intellectual Property)
- 2007 (February): Dutch Supreme Court ruled in the case Adidas/Marca Mode II that the two stripe of Marca et al. did not infringe the three stripe trade mark of Adidas.
- 2008 (April): European Court of Justice decided in favour of Adidas, against Marca Mode, C&A, H&M Hennes & Mauritz and Vendex KBB, that two-stripes could infringe on the Adidas three-stripe trademark.
- 2008 (May): Kmart
- 2008: Payless ShoeSource, ordered to pay $304.6 million; later reduced to $64.4 million. No. 01-CV-01655-RE.
- 2008 (October): Wal-Mart Stores Inc., third confidential settlement.
- 2009: Aldo Group Inc., filed 14 January in federal court in Portland, claiming a breach of out-of-court settlements between the companies in 2004 and 2006. Adidas America Inc. v. Aldo Group Inc., 3:09- cv-00056
Adidas has also settled with Steven Madden Ltd., Target Corp. and Nordstrom Inc. before going to trial.
Further reading
- Conrad Brunner (2004). All day I dream about sport : the story of the Adidas brand. London: Cyan. ISBN 1-904879-12-8.
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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