Adidas suffers a setback in the US court in the nudity dispute

Is there a risk of confusing Adidas' Qatari stripes with those of designer Thom Browne? No, says the US Court of Appeals.

Franconian sporting goods giant Adidas suffered defeat in a legal dispute over its stripe pattern against designer Thom Browne in a US court on Friday. Adidas has failed to convince an appeals court to reopen its lawsuit against the American luxury brand. Adidas said a Manhattan judge gave incorrect instructions to the jury that dismissed the case last year.

But the Court of Appeal disagreed: It affirmed on Friday that the jury instructions “fairly reflected the law and evidence presented at trial.” Adidas' attorney referred a request for comment to the company, which did not immediately respond. A spokesman for Thom Browne said the luxury brand was pleased with the ruling.

There is no risk of confusion

According to a US court ruling last year, designer Thom Browne did not infringe Adidas' trademark rights with his striped pattern. A jury in the Manhattan borough of New York decided that the four parallel stripes used by the luxury fashion brand since 2008 did not pose a risk of confusion with the famous Adidas three stripes. The sporting goods manufacturer sued the New York designer in 2021 and sought $7.8 million in damages and a halt to sales. The fashion brand, founded in 2001, used the three stripes as a logo on shirts, pants and shoes until 2007. After a legal dispute with Adidas, Thom Browne switched to wearing the four stripes.

Since 2008, Adidas has filed more than 90 lawsuits over its iconic Three Stripes and has been settled out of court 200 times, according to court documents. Tom Brown explained at the time that confusion between the two brands was unlikely because the two companies serve different customers in different markets and offer their products at very different prices. (APA/Reuters)