Adidas has lost a court case against New York fashion designer Thom Browne after the sports brand sued the designer for mimicking its stripe branding.
According to Sky News, a jury in Manhattan has decided that Adidas failed to show that Thom Browne had ‘infringed’ the brand’s three-stripe design trademark.
The fashion designer’s main argument was that his branding had a different number of stripes and that stripes are a ‘common design’ element for clothing.
Adidas had reportedly planned to ask the jury for more than £6.3 million ($7.8 million) in damages, as well as punitive damages and a cut of Thom Browne’s infringing sales, according to a court filing.
Thom Browne’s sportswear features four ‘Grosgrain’ stripes, wrapping horizontally and vertically around the arms and legs of shorts and sweatshirts.
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According to court documents in the case, Adidas has filed over 90 lawsuits and signed more than 200 settlement agreements since 2008 related to the trademark.
A spokesperson for the sportswear giant said the brand was “disappointed with the jury’s decision but will “continue to vigilantly enforce our intellectual property, including filing any appropriate appeals”.
A spokesperson for Thom Browne Inc said the company was pleased with the verdict. The designer said that the two brands “operate in different markets, serving different customers, and offer their products at strikingly different price points”.
