The Adidas logo is not distinctive enough to be registered as a trademark, an EU court has ruled.
In what could be a sizeable blow to the value of the $14.3bn sportswear company, the general court of the 28-member bloc deemed the three parallel stripes to be nothing more than"an ordinary figurative mark". Adidas said it was disappointed by the call, which had its roots in a legal challenge by a Belgian shoe company that failed to secure trademark status for a similarly simple two-stripe design last year.Shoe Branding Europe has been embroiled in a long court battle with Adidas, which wanted to establish a wider trademark for"three parallel equidistant stripes of equal width applied to the product in whichever direction".
But the EU court said in a statement:"The general court of the EU confirms the invalidity of the Adidas EU trademark, which consists of three parallel stripes applied in any direction. The mark is not a pattern mark composed of a series of regularly repetitive elements, but an ordinary figurative mark.
Upholding that verdict on Wednesday, the court said Adidas was unable to prove the motif had a"distinctive character" throughout the countries of the EU, therefore rendering it ineligible for legal protection.
That logo is shit! The old one is far better
what about nike and theirs
The EU has said again
What I love most is how people all of a sudden give the impression they care about this. When they never have before. Not in the slightest. Funny times.
I'm a South Face man myself.
Not distinctive enough versus what? Almost everyone around the world knows what them 3 stripes mean.
What. Who are these people. Obviously not human
Should be easy to trademark..... more evidence of corruption.
EU court
This is ridiculous. Three stripes over their name looks like a shoe. Target is two concentric circles over their name looks like a bullseye. One gets a TM and one doesn’t? random
What BS
Poundland rejoice
Obviously didn’t grease enough palms in the EU. The standard on trademark recognition is would you be able to name the brand without the name being present, I’d say 95% of people worldwide under 30 would....
Blasphemy
Three stripes has always been associated with adidas typical EU 💩 the sooner we are out the better.
Wait what?
The end of two stripe fakes...👊🏻
Just Do It!