The American sporting goods manufacturer Nike is no longer allowed to offer certain sports pants in Germany because they closely resemble the three-stripe design of competitor Adidas. However, this is only a partial victory in the logo conflict: not every striped pattern on sports pants is generally prohibited.
This was evident from a ruling by the Oberlandesgericht Düsseldorf on Tuesday. In the case of four other pants that Adidas had also objected to with the stripe design, the court dismissed the trademark case, changing a lower court ruling. Unlike the Düsseldorf Regional Court, the Higher Regional Court found that these trousers were sufficiently different from the Adidas design. “Not every side stripe pattern on sports pants should be prohibited,” the court said. The judgment is final.
In 2022, Adidas saw its trademark protection violated in the five-pants case and filed a lawsuit. The Düsseldorf Regional Court subsequently issued a ruling banning Nike from offering the trousers in Germany. The American company has filed an objection. In September 2023, the regional court confirmed the decision, after which Nike appealed.
The dispute over stripes has been going on for a long time
It is not the first time that the two companies have fought in court over their trademark rights. In 2005, a court banned Nike from selling shoes with two stripes because they looked too similar to the Adidas logo.
Source: Krone
I’m Ben Stock, a journalist and author at Today Times Live. I specialize in economic news and have been working in the news industry for over five years. My experience spans from local journalism to international business reporting. In my career I’ve had the opportunity to interview some of the world’s leading economists and financial experts, giving me an insight into global trends that is unique among journalists.
