In a major upset for Adidas, the Court of Cassation, France's supreme court for civil and criminal cases, finally ruled on June 26, 2024, in favor of Sandro and Isabel Marant, thus ending six years of litigation. The German sportswear manufacturer filed a lawsuit in 2018, accusing the two fashion brands of counterfeiting its famous three stripes. Adidas brought forth in particular allegations of damage to its reputation and unfair competition. Follow us here at Gen Z Biker Boots
Why Adidas lost its lawsuit
Contempt the worldwide reputation of the three-stripe brand, the French courts found Adidas' arguments to be unsupported. Adidas suffered this legal setback mainly due to insufficient evidence of infringement and the absence of a risk of confusion for the consumer. The judges measured that the similarities between the stripes used by the two brands, while present, were not sufficient to establish a violation of Adidas' intellectual property rights.
In addition, the reputation of Isabel Marant and the distinct positioning of the two brands on the market weighed in favor of the defendants. The court measured that the average consumer, sufficiently informed, was able to discriminate between the products of the two brands and was not at risk of being misled.
The course of the case
The legal quarrel began in 2018 when Adidas took the case to court, condemning both brands for having unlawfully used its iconic stripes. While the first instances had partially ruled in favor of Adidas in 2020, this decision was overturned by the Court of Appeal, which dismissed the equipment manufacturer's claims in full in November 2022. Adidas was then methodical to pay 40,000 euros to Isabel Marant and 20,000 euros to Sandro under Article 700. Adidas then appealed, considering that the two previous judgments confined errors of law.