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Spurning its Stripes

German court, protecting adidas trademark, rules Nike cannot sell pants with stripes

Published

19 years ago

January 26, 2005

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A German regional court has ruled that Nike Inc. (Beaverton, Ore.) cannot sell pants with two stripes in Germany because they could be confused with those made by adidas-Salomon AG (Herzogenaurach, Germany). The regional court in Cologne also warned on Thursday that if the company did not stop selling two-striped pants it could be fined up to $324,000.

The court said that by selling two types of sports pants with double stripes on the side, Nike had infringed on the marketing rights of adidas, known as the company whose clothing has three stripes. The judge said there was a risk that consumers would confuse Nike’s clothing with that of Adidas.

“[We] welcomes the decision of the court in Cologne,” adidas said in a statement. “This decision strengthens the protection of well-known trademarks and will help us protect the three stripes of adidas in the future.”

The court also ruled that German clothing maker Tom Tailor was not allowed to sell jackets with two stripes in Germany.

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