THE THREE BANDS OF ADIDAS ARE NOT

A MARK DEPOSITED IN EUROPE

The German sports equipment manufacturer Adidas still can not register as its brand in the EU three parallel strips on clothes or shoes, said Wednesday the European justice.

European justice has so decided: the three bands that embody Adidas can not be registered as a trademark in Europe judges deeming that they constitute "an ordinary figurative mark" and that "Adidas does not prove that they have" acquired throughout the territory of the Union, a distinctive character as a result of the use made of it ".

According to UEIPO, a mark "is the symbol by which" customers recognize a company and allow it to differentiate itself from its competitors. It may be a word mark, figurative, pattern, color or sound. Companies can deposit several

The decision also refers to the color and states that "even the three parallel black stripes on a white background" can not be considered as a strictly Adidas mark.

Adidas registered its three bands in the EU in 2014 with the European Union Intellectual Property Office (UEIPO) before it was challenged by the competing Belgian company Shoe Branding Europe, with whom German OEM is engaged in a long battle in these parallel bands.

Adidas can still appeal to the EU Court of Justice to challenge the 19 June judgment.

In the United States, on the other hand, the courts have already recognized the three bands of the German mark as belonging to him for clothing, shoes and accessories, several ruling decisions having been rendered in his favor in the past.