Adidas has retracted its appeal to US authorities to prevent the Black Lives Matter movement from registering a trademark for a design incorporating three parallel stripes.
The German sportswear manufacturer stated in a filing on Monday that the Black Lives Matter Global Network Foundation design would cause confusion with the well-known Adidas logo, which the firm has utilized for over seven decades.
Adidas quickly abandoned its opposition to the BLMGNF trademark registration Wednesday.
“Adidas will remove its resistance to the Black Lives Matter Global Network Foundation’s trademark application as soon as possible,” a representative stated, without elaborating on the decision.
BLMGNF was created following the 2012 shooting of unarmed black teen Trayvon Martin by neighborhood watch volunteer George Zimmerman and gained to popularity during the global protest movement that followed the 2020 killing of George Floyd by a white police officer.
The firm submitted for a U.S. trademark for a yellow three-stripe design in November 2020, stating that it might be used on branded items such as clothes, books, bags, wristbands, and mugs.
Adidas stated in its opposition notice filed with the trademark office on Monday that the proposed BLMGNF design “incorporates three stripes in a way confusingly similar to the three-stripe mark in appearance and overall commercial impression.”
From 1952, the German company enjoyed “international repute and tremendous popular awareness” with its three-stripe symbol.
The business noted that consumers acquainted with its goods and services “are likely to believe” that items sold under the applicant’s mark “come from the same source or are related, connected, or endorsed by Adidas.”
Since 2008, Adidas has filed over 90 lawsuits and entered over 200 settlement agreements regarding the three-stripe trademark.
A New York jury determined in January that luxury designer Thom Browne’s stripe designs did not breach Adidas’ trademark rights.