EU high court rules against Adidas in trademark case

A European Union high court has ruled against German sports apparel giant Adidas' claim that its famous three stripes, applied in any direction, deserve trademark protection.

The EU's General Court ruled on Wednesday that the company could not prove that the stripes had a distinctive enough character throughout the 28-nation bloc.

The three parallel stripes seen adorning everything from running shoes to sports bags and the sleeves of t-shirts are "an ordinary figurative mark", the General Court of the European Union ruled.

The court, the EU's second-highest tribunal, upheld a 2016 ruling by the bloc's intellectual property regulator cancelling the registration of the three-stripe design as a trademark following a challenge by a Belgian shoe company.

Adidas said it is disappointed in Wednesday's ruling and considering its next options.

Three years ago, the EU's Intellectual Property Office had struck down the registration of the mark on the grounds it was not distinctive enough throughout the bloc. The court backed the assessment.

Adidas insisted specific applications of the stripes were not affected by the ruling.

The ruling is the latest round in a long legal tussle between Adidas and Belgian rival Shoe Branding Europe, which as far back as 2009 won trademark status for a two-stripe design, triggering court action from the German firm.