Introduction of Companies involved in the dispute
Shoe Branding Europe BVBA is a Belgian footwear company and
wants to register it's 2 stripe logo as a trademark. Adidas has
its roots in Germany but now it's a global company dealing in
Sportswear. Adidas has a 3 stripes logo to differentiate its
product from other products in the market.
The three-stripe logo was first registered by Adidas's
founder, Adi Dassler, on a football boot on 18 August 1949,
but the court said it was not sufficient to identify the products
as originating from the brand.
Below there is a picture of Adidas logo and the parallel stripes
logo of Shoe Branding Europe.
The Dispute
Adidas initiated trademark opposition proceedings against
Belgian footwear company Shoe Branding Europe BVBA ("Shoe
Branding") alleging that two of Shoe Branding's pending
European Union trademark applications – both of which
consisted of a 2-stripe design – are "confusingly
similar" to its well-known
