Adidas and luxury fashion trademark Thom Browne were engaged in a jury trial over Thom Browne’s use of a four-stripe design on apparel and footwear.
Adidas sued Thom Browne for nearly $8 million in damages and profits, arguing that Thom Browne’s stripes “imitate” its own branding, citing its Three-Stripe trademark. Thom Browne contends there is no way consumers will be confused between its four-stripe design and adidas’ three-stripe mark given Thom Browne’s is a luxury fashion brand and adidas is a sportswear brand. Thom Browne further states that no one will go to purchase a pair of Thom Browne sweatpants for $800 and think it’s Adidas.
In filings and in the jury trial, adidas has detailed continuous use of its registered three-stripe mark since the 1950’s and spends nearly $300 million on advertising on its three-stripe products. Adidas additionally cites to a 2018 GQ article that referred to Thom Browne as “the other Three Stipes’ company” when Thom Browne began a push into athletic leisure clothing. In fact, adidas introduced survey evidence showing nearly 30 percent of consumers surveyed believe Thom Browne’s products were sourced from adidas. Adidas points to the above to evidence to show that Thom Browne’s move into the activewear industry, a sharp shift from the luxury fashion lane it traditionally stayed in, is likely to cause confusion.
Unable to settle outside of court, the brands first appeared in front of Judge Jed Rakoff on Tuesday 3 January. On Thursday, just hours after closing arguments, the jury ruled in favour of Thom Browne. The underdog story has significant resonance in American courts, says Jeff Trexler, associate director at the Fashion Law Institute. This is an outcome seen before at the court level, he adds, noting that Adidas’s sheer size did not prevail in this case. Thom Browne, a name in luxury, is still dwarfed by Adidas in terms of revenue: it brought in €69 million in the third quarter of 2022, compared to Adidas’s €6.4 billion.
