According to the Federal Supreme Court of Germany, the level of recognition and remembrance of people for famous sports brands is always higher than other common brands. That’s why consumers who see a double or four-stroke border always think of Adidas’ commercial character.
And Adidas has also been involved in a historic trademark dispute with Tesla, an electric vehicle manufacturing and assembly company. When Tesla sought to register the trademark for Model 3 electric cars, the company filed an application with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office without knowing that their idea of three horizontal stripes closely resembled the brand’s logo.
Adidas said the three horizontal bars (symbolizing the letter E) in Tesla’s logo will be confused with Adidas’ three “bars” logo that has been used for more than half a century. Tesla eventually withdrew the application and changed the three horizontal bars to number 3.
In addition to Tesla, over five years Adidas has filed more than 50 lawsuits against rivals. They were Nike, Skechers and even Marc Jacobs when it came to the idea and intention to create subsidiaries’ logos that resemble the “3 lines” of yourself.
As in 2005, Adidas sued the American Polo Group, designer Ralph Lauren and Abercrombie & Fitch Company in US court. This was for infringing upon the copyright of Adidas’ contoured commercial characteristics for products. However, with only 2 strokes. In January 2006, a court ruled that Nike and the manufacturer of Tom Tailor in Germany had infringed on the trademark of Adidas with a three-stroke border.
So far, Adidas has nearly 6 decades of developing and shaping the brand. Adidas has really caused many other competitors to fall in respectable hats because of the sharpness about brand protection. More than anyone else, Adidas has “asserted” that stealing and copying the logo will be punished appropriately.
