Article
Three stripes matter.
The sportswear company Adidas claimed the Black Lives Matter Global Network Foundation’s yellow-stripe design would be confused with its three-stripe logo.
In March 2023, Sneaker giant Adidas AG has asked the US trademark office to reject an application for a Black Lives Matter trademark featuring three parallel stripes, arguing it could mislead the public, creating confusion with its own famous three-stripe mark. Adidas claims that its 70 year old logo has acquired “international fame and tremendous public recognition”.
The trademark office gave the Black Lives Matter group until 6 May to answer but the German manufacturer finally retracted at the end of March without further explanation.
Adidas has filed more than 90 lawsuits and signed more than 200 settlement agreements related to the three-stripe trademark since 2008.
A month ago, a small wine producer in Sardinia was accused by the maker of the energy drink Red Bull of copying its logo (Two bulls facing each other). Red Bull filed a lawsuit against it through a lawyer in Turin and asked the small Italian winery to change logo.
These animals are a symbol of agriculture in Sardinia.
Red Bull still remains silent and said in a statement: “We cannot comment on any pending legal matter".
Legal battles are going well when brands want to protect their visual heritage as much as possible.
(Read this article on the same subject)
Resources :
Author
Etienne Lens
Tags
branding logo heritage Adidas Black Lives Matter trademark Red Bull copyright
Share