Adidas has filed a lawsuit against Australian clothing brand White Fox Boutique, alleging that that company has repeatedly infringed on its trademark three stripe motif that it has used for nearly 80 years.
The German sportswear maker said in its suit filed in the Federal Court of Australia in mid-September that White Fox has sold dozens of items, including shorts, sweatsuits and hats, that have four stripes in designs that it says are “deceptively similar” to its own three stripe look.
Representatives from Adidas said they bought numerous White Fox items with the four stripe design which apparently went on sale in January and in March asked for the products to stop being sold.
As of Tuesday, there are numerous pieces on the White Fox website that are still available for sale that have four stripes.
Meanwhile, Adidas is asking White Fox to admit it infringed on the trademark, stop selling the items and pay damages, interests and costs.
In its briefing, Adidas said it sent White Fox a cease-and-desist request on March 19 to halt sales of the products in question and one of its employees then bought a pair of plum-colored lounge shorts with the four stripes the next day.
That triggered a series of additional White Fox purchases from Adidas along with gathering evidence from April to June that showed advertisements on buses, bus stands and billboards that allegedly displayed obvious signs that the four stripe design was still in use.
According to Adidas, from May to July, White Fox provided it with 12 items that also included the stripes.
The company has also accused White Fox of continuing to confuse customers by showcasing pants and socks in images that show models wearing Adidas footwear. In other images, Adidas said that White Fox altered the appearance of its footwear by covering up one of its three stripes.
The three stripe design by Adidas was first used in 1949 by Adi Dassler, the founder of the company who would later acquire the trademark of the motif from Finnish sports company Karhu in 1952 after the Helsinki Olympics.
By 1967, Adidas began putting the three stripes on apparel while continuing to use it on footwear and adopted the Trefoil insignia in 1972, which also remains a core part of its visual identity. But the three stripes would remain part of its brand heritage.
Meanwhile, Adidas has held a trademark for the three stripes in Australia since 1973 and vigorously defended the design in the past.
Designer Thom Browne used the three stripes on a jacket in 2007 and was targeted by Adidas in 2021 for infringement, but he agreed to stop using the design but would later use a four stripe motif. As Browne became a prominent figure in fashion, aggressively expanding into sportswear and activewear, Adidas decided to pursue the matter in a case that ultimately went to trial.
A jury would ultimately side with Browne in 2023, but Adidas would continue to object to other examples that it felt were too close to its trademark.
In 2016, Adidas pressed Athletic Propulsion Labs on its use of four parallel stripes on its shoes that were said to be confusing to customers. Adidas claimed trademark infringement, unfair competition, trademark dilution and deceptive trade practices and the brands would later settle the matter in January 2017.
