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Steve Madden is suing Adidas in an effort to stop the German athletic company from its alleged efforts to “monopolize common design features in the fashion industry.”
According to a lawsuit filed on Wednesday in federal court in Brooklyn, N.Y., Steve Madden is seeking a non-infringement and no unfair competition declaratory judgment because the company is “tired of being targeted” by Adidas for footwear design elements that “bear no resemblance” to Adidas’ Three-Stripe mark.
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“No consumer is likely to believe that the footwear including these designs is manufactured by, or otherwise associated with or approved by, Adidas,” Steve Madden wrote in the complaint.
In the lawsuit, Steve Madden noted that over the years, Adidas has allegedly “aggressively enforced” its trademark registrations against Steve Madden and others, who it believes infringes its purported Three-Stripe mark.
“Adidas’ assertive enforcement measures often include suing and threatening suit against manufacturers and retailers of footwear and apparel who use any number of stripes or bands in any manner that Adidas contends is likely to cause confusion with Adidas’ purported Three-Stripe,” the complaint said.
Steve Madden further noted that it has “fallen victim” to Adidas’ threats for decades on more than one occasion. “Since as early as 2002, Adidas has commenced a pattern of complaining that Steve Madden’s footwear allegedly infringes its Three-Stripe mark,” the complaint stated. “Specifically, in 2002 Adidas brought two lawsuits against Steve Madden alleging that footwear with four-parallel stripes and two-parallel stripes infringed its Three-Stripe mark. These lawsuits were consolidated and subsequently settled as set forth in a 2003 settlement agreement between the parties.”
After the 2003 settlement agreement, Steve Madden alleged that Adidas “continued to complain” about its footwear over the ensuing decades.
This includes new objections to two Steve Madden sneakers launched this year: the Viento, which has two non-parallel stripe bands, and the Janos, which has two stripe bands that resemble the letter “K.” Steve Madden said Adidas’ lawyers have demanded that Viento sales be halted because the design would likely confuse consumers.
“Simply put, Adidas does not own all stripes and should not be allowed to claim that it has a monopoly on all footwear that includes stripes, bars, bands or any shape having four sides—parallel, straight or not,” Steve Madden claimed.