adidas Withdraw Trademark Opposition Against Black Lives Matter

Earlier in the week, reports emerged that adidas were taking the Black Lives Matter movement to court over allegations that the BLM’s three stripe branding is a blatant imitation of adidas’ iconic logo.

The Black Lives Matter Global Network Foundation filed a trademark request for horizontal three-stripe branding that would be used on bags, apparel, headwear and general accessories sold through an e-commerce platform.

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On Monday, adidas submitted:

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“consumers familiar with the goods and services long associated with [adidas’] three-stripe mark are likely to assume that the goods and services offered under [BLM’s] mark originate from the same source, or that they are affiliated, connected, or associated with or sponsored by adidas”.

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Barely two days have since passed and adidas has now confirmed its withdrawal of opposition to the BLM’s trademark request, stating that the company will retract their filings with immediate effect. 

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Although confirming this information, adidas is yet to give a statement on the reasoning behind the sudden pivot. 

The news comes after a series of objective missteps from adidas, calling back to earlier in the year when it was confirmed they lost in similar proceedings against Thom Browne in another trademark dispute over Browne’s use of four stripe branding across his eponymous imprint.

It was also recently revealed that Beyoncé’s Ivy Park line would be parting ways with adidas, due to underwhelming sales results, especially in 2022, when sales of the Ivy Park brand fell by over 50%.

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On the bright side, adidas are still managing to pump out solid collaborations, like its latest venture with BAPE that works on the Campus 80s silhouette, kickstarting a year of festivities that celebrates twenty years of partnership between the brands.