American fashion designer Thom Browne sued German sportswear giant Adidas in an intellectual property dispute over the use of stripes in clothing designs. This is the conclusion of a court in New York, USA. Browne and Adidas have previously disputed the use of stripes.
Adidas filed a lawsuit against Browne over his use of the four horizontal stripes that often appear on the clothes he designs, and was seeking $8 million in damages, just over $1.1 billion. For years Adidas has used three horizontal stripes to identify various garments of the German giant.
Browne, who is known for designing clothing on the more expensive side, argued among other things that it was unlikely that consumers would confuse the brands, not least because he used four stripes, Adidas three. His lawyers also argued that the customer base of Browne and Adidas was not comparable. Additionally, stripes would be common in designs.
Browne’s feud with Adidas can be traced back fifteen years. Then he agreed to stop using three horizontal stripes in his design products and added one more. Since then, however, Browne’s empire has grown exponentially, as well as increasingly designing sportswear.
The jurors in the case agreed with Browne, and the case has therefore been dismissed.
