In a major blow for Adidas, the Court of Cassation, France's supreme court for civil and criminal cases, definitively ruled on June 26, 2024 in favour of Isabel Marant and Sandro, 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.

Why Adidas lost its lawsuit

Despite the worldwide reputation of the three-stripe brand, the French courts found Adidas' arguments to be unfounded. Adidas suffered this legal setback mainly due to the insufficient evidence of infringement and the absence of a risk of confusion for the consumer. The judges considered that the similarities between the stripes used by the two brands, although present, were not sufficient to establish an infringement 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 favour of the defendants. The court considered that the average consumer, sufficiently informed, was able to distinguish the products of the two brands and was not at risk of being misled.

The course of the case

The legal dispute began in 2018 when Adidas took the case to court, accusing both brands of having unlawfully used its iconic stripes. While the first instances had partially ruled in favour 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 ordered 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 contained errors of law.

This article originally appeared on FashionUnited.FR. Translation via AI and edit by Rachel Douglass.