adidas loses a dispute against H&M about the Three Stripes' use

Not even one year ago we talked about the ruling of the EU Court of Justice regarding the distinctive character of the traditional adidas Three Stripes, regarding a 2014 dispute against the Belgian brand Patrick. Now the German brand loses again by an older court case, as it does not have the exclusivity of the use of the Three Stripes throughout the Benelux territory (Holland, Belgium and Luxembourg) and in other International countries. The dispute in question dates back to 1997 when H&M created a fitness collection called 'Work Out' to which two parallel bands were applied, the distance similar to that between those of adidas.

The Court of Justice had already stated something on the controversy in 2008, emphasizing the existence of the risk of confusion of the items of the two brands, however in 2017 a contrary ruling had arrived that highlighted the differences between the two different stripes. In order to declare the last verdict, in-depth market research was carried out according to which it emerged that the great majority of consumers did not confuse the appearance of the 2 H&M stripes with the 3 of adidas, and that only 10% was taken in deception by the similarity. The German brand has to pay H&M up to € 80,000 as legal fees for the trial, although it can still appeal the ruling before the Supreme Court of the Netherlands.