In a recent legal battle, Nike has been prohibited from selling a particular pair of sports pants in Germany due to their close resemblance to Adidas' trademark three-stripe design. The Düsseldorf Higher Regional Court confirmed this decision on Tuesday, ruling in favour of Adidas' trademark infringement claim.
However, the court overturned a previous ruling by the lower court regarding four other Nike pants. Unlike the lower court, the Higher Regional Court determined that these pants had enough design differences to avoid violating Adidas' trademark. The court emphasised that not every side stripe pattern should be prohibited.
The legal dispute began in 2022 when Adidas filed a lawsuit against Nike, alleging trademark infringement in five different pant designs. The initial ruling by the Düsseldorf Regional Court banned all five designs, but Nike successfully appealed the decision for four of them.
This case is just one in a series of legal battles between the two sports giants over stripes. In 2019, Adidas lost a case before the Court of Justice of the European Union, which ruled that the three-stripe design was not protected in every possible form. However, Adidas has also defended its trademark successfully in other instances.
The dispute over stripes is just one aspect of the ongoing competition between Nike and Adidas. The recent decision by the German Football Association (DFB) to switch from Adidas to Nike as its equipment supplier further highlights the rivalry between the two brands.
