By Gary Symons
TLL Editor in Chief
Adidas has withdrawn its legal opposition to a trademark application from the activist group Black Lives Matter.
The footwear giant filed a request to the US Patent and Trademark Office to block the Black Lives Matter from trademarking a design that features three parallel lines.
Adidas said in its filing on Monday that the logo for Black Lives Matter: Global Network Foundation would create confusion with its own famous brand, which also features three parallel lines.
But just two days later, Adidas withdrew that request. “Adidas will withdraw its opposition to the Black Lives Matter Global Network Foundation’s trademark application as soon as possible,” said a company spokesperson.
No explanation was given for the sudden legal U-turn.
However, the wire service Reuters reported that a source told them the sudden about face was prompted by fears consumers could misinterpret the company’s actions as criticism of Black Lives Matter and its mission. The group was founded after black teenager Trayvon Martin was shot by a neighorhood watch member named George Zimmerman in 2012, and rose to global prominence after the murder of George Floyd by a white police office in 2020.
That said, it is very unlikely that Adidas would be critical of the Black Lives Matter movement.
Black Lives Matter applied for the US trademark in 2020, which features three horizontal stripes underlining the organization’s name. The group says it might be used on branded merchandise such as publications, jewellery, coffee mugs and glasses, and clothing.
Adidas, which also has a sizeable apparel business, initially argued that the BLM logo “incorporates three stripes in a manner that is confusingly similar to the three-stripe mark in appearance and overall commercial impression.
“Additionally, registration of Applicant’s Mark … is likely to dilute the distinctive ness of the Three-Stripe Mark by eroding consumers’ exclusive identification of the Three-Stripe Mark with Adidas, and otherwise lessening the capacity of the Three-Stripe Mark to identify the goods and services of Adidas.”
BLM never had time to respond to the filing, but most analysts have said there are both similarities and differences between the two marks. While the BLM logo has three parallel lines, similar to the Adidas mark, those lines are horizontal, and lie below the name Black Lives Matter. All the three stripes are the same length.
The Adidas logo is typically seen as three stripes running at an angle, and are more vertical than horizontal. They are also typically seen on top of the name Adidas.
BLM had applied for two marks; one with and one without the name Black Lives Matter, and it was the version without the name that Adidas objected to, saying the three stripes by themselves could be confused with its own three stripe design.
For example, the company showed a shirt from store.blacklivesmatter.com that depicted three vertical stripes, similar to the way Adidas adds vertical stripes to its sportswear items.
However, given the difference in color and overall design, some legal analysts like IP lawyer Josh Gerben informally predicted Adidas did not have the strongest case.
“Adidas has been very aggressive in policing its stripes,” Gerben said on Twitter. “But when you look at the difference in color and shape of the stripes, I think that Adidas is unlikely to win this case if it goes to trial.”
Whether Adidas would win or not will never be known as it appears the risk of reputational damage and a consumer backlash by Black Lives Matter supporters has made the point that while the company might win in court, it may not win in the far more important court of public opinion.