Adidas hits resistance in court over three-stripe trademark fight

PORTLAND, Ore. (CN) — Sportswear brand Adidas defended its trademark suit against a retailer of collectible soccer jerseys on Tuesday, where a federal judge indicated the sportswear company would likely need to refile its claims.

Adidas sued Hall of Fame Sports Memorabilia in 2024, accusing the company of infringing its distinctive three-stripe mark through the sale of its Real Madrid and Argentina soccer jersey designs.

The jerseys in question feature three stripes running from the collar to the shoulder, cutting off before the sleeve. According to Adidas, the three stripes are confusingly similar to its registered trademark for a trio of stripes running down the sleeve of a shirt.

Adidas also accused Hall of Fame of counterfeiting, diluting its trademark and infringing its trade dress.

Before U.S. Magistrate Judge Jeff Armistead, Hall of Fame argued that the lawsuit should be dismissed. In particular, the sports memorabilia company argued Adidas had failed to connect its registered trademarks to the accused infringing products.

The trademark registrations offered by Adidas to support their infringement claim don’t include the specific marks used by Hall of Fame, argued Hall of Fame’s attorney Russell Jones.

Specifically, the Adidas trademark is described as “three parallel stripes running along the sleeve of a shirt, T-shirt, sweatshirt, jacket or coat.”

Hall of Fame argued the trademark registration didn’t touch on the products.

“We don’t have any stripes running down any sleeves at all,” Jones said.

To Adidas, the case is straightforward.

“This is a direct knockoff of the three-stripe mark,” said Charles Hooker III, attorney representing Adidas.

But Armistead did not appear to agree, asking Adidas what exactly it was claiming to control with its various three-stripe trademarks.

“Is it malleable and amorphous? Can it be anything that has three vertical or semi-vertical lines?” Armistead asked.

Adidas explained there are various executions of its three-stripe mark that aren’t tied to specific garments.

“I get that Adidas has one of the most recognizable trademarks in the history of the world,” Armistead said. “I get that.”

Still, he doubted Adidas had supported its trademark infringement and counterfeit claims.

“I’m not sure it provides notice to the defendants of what exactly is being infringed here,” Armistead said.

Hall of Fame also argued that Adidas trademark doesn’t apply to jerseys and that it could have specifically mentioned jerseys but failed to do so. Adidas disagreed.

“The registration covers shirts. A jersey is a shirt,” Hooker said. “It would turn the posture of this case on its head to … jettison a claim on the basis that somehow jerseys are different than shirts or that three stripes can’t be confusingly similar because they’re not exactly as depicted in Adidas’ registration.”

Adidas argued the three-stripe mark is a unitary branding device, but Armistead again wasn’t convinced it was particular enough to support either an infringement or a counterfeit claim.

“In my view, properly pleaded claims for trademark infringement would just be more specific,” Armistead said. “Likewise for counterfeiting, which needs to be much more specific than trademark infringement.”

Armistead expressed similar concern about Adidas’ claim for trade dress infringement, which concerns products that copy or mimic overall designs that aren’t covered by a trademark. For instance, he questioned whether Adidas could claim it, given that the jerseys in question contain branded elements from other businesses.

Adidas also argued that Hall of Fame’s products diluted its trademark.

“We believe their products are of inferior quality,” Hooker said, adding that consumers may think less of Adidas if they see someone in a similar Hall of Fame jersey that has become threadbare.

“Nobody is wearing these jerseys; they were sold as collectibles,” Jones said. He said the jerseys have since all been withdrawn from the market and destroyed.

Armistead indicated he would likely give Adidas the opportunity to amend its complaint and said he would take the matter under advisement.