Adidas “Instant Appeal”
▲ Designer Thom Browne leaves a federal court in Manhattan after a verdict of not infringing the Adidas trademark on the 12th (local time). Manhattan Associated Press.
Thom Browne, a luxury brand with a parallel 4-line design, won the ‘stripes suit’ against Adidas in the 3 lines.
In a trial held on the 12th (local time), a jury in a federal court in Manhattan, New York, ruled in favor of Thom Browne, saying, “Adidas failed to prove that Thom Browne’s four stripes infringed its design trademark,” Reuters reported. Thom Browne expressed his satisfaction with the ruling, but Adidas objected, saying he would immediately appeal.
The stripe dispute between the two companies goes back 16 years. Initially, Thom Browne applied a 3-line design to clothes, but in 2007, facing opposition from Adidas, it was changed to a 4-line design. However, Adidas filed a lawsuit against Thom Browne in June last year, alleging infringement of his trademark, demanding damages of 7.88 million dollars (about 9.8 billion won), punitive damages extra, and a cut in sales of Thom Browne.
Adidas argued in the complaint that Thom Browne used a similar design while knowing the rights to the Adidas trademark, which had been in use since 1952. Adidas is known to be unhappy with Thom Browne for losing football Spanish pro FC Barcelona and the NBA Cleveland Cavaliers, who had been contracted for a long time.
In response, Thom Browne countered that “Adidas is a sports brand, and we are a luxury brand,” and that the target market is different, and that the stripes themselves are just a general design. For example, a pair of Thom Browne socks costs $120 (150,000 won), but a 3-pack of Adidas socks costs $16 (20,000 won).
Reporter Kim Seong-eun
