West News Wire: Two days after contesting the image with the U.S. Trademark Office, Adidas has decided to drop its opposition to a Black Lives Matter trademark registration with three parallel stripes.
Adidas complained about the Black Lives Matter Global Network Foundation’s attempt to trademark the use of three parallel yellow stripes on a variety of products, including clothing and bags, in a notification of opposition filed with the office on Monday.
The business claimed that it believed Black Lives Matter’s use of the stripes, if permitted, would be “confusingly similar” to its own use of a three-stripe mark, which it had been using on its own goods at least since 1952.
Adidas announced on Wednesday that it had altered its mind.
“Adidas will withdraw its opposition to the Black Lives Matter Global Network Foundation’s trademark application as soon as possible,” the German athletic gear company said in a prepared statement.
It did not provide any further details as to why it was withdrawing the application.
Adidas has vociferously protected its triple-stripe trademark for years. In January fashion designer Thom Browne emerged from a New York courthouse victorious over Adidas in a battle over signature stripes. In that case, Adidas had similarly argued that the striped designs used by Thom Browne Inc. were too similar to its own three stripes. The Manhattan federal court jury sided with Browne.
