Adidas sues rival in three-stripe TM dispute

Sportswear designer Adidas has slammed the design of a line of shoes which it has described as a “confusingly similar imitation” of its own three-stripe trademark.

In a lawsuit filed on December 17 at the US District Court for the District of Oregon, Adidas has claimed a line of shoes manufactured by Delaware-based Tweak Footwear infringes its three-stripe trademark and is “irrepar ably harming Adidas’s brand”.

ThinkGeek, a Delaware-based e-commerce company, has also been named as a defendant in the lawsuit.

“Defendants were aware that the sale of the infringing footwear would likely cause confusion among consumers and would dilute Adidas’s rights in the three-stripe mark ... Defendants knowingly, wilfully, intentionally and maliciously adopted and used confusing similar imitations of the three-stripe mark,” Adidas argued.

The disputed product is a blue coloured trainer. On the side of the shoe are three yellow stripes with a flick at the end. The shoes are sold on Bethesda Store, an online retailer.

In the lawsuit, Adidas cited consumer reviews stating that the shoes are “fake Adidas” and are “identical” to its own products.

Adidas is requesting the court award “punitive damages”.