Did Black Lives Matter Infringe On Adidas' Three-Stripe Copyright?
Black Lives Matter is facing legal action from Adidas over the BLM organization's logo.
BLM has used, and continues to use, a logo with three stripes surrounding text.
After using it on merchandise and in promotional materials, Black Lives Matter is now attempting to file a trademark for its three-stripes logo.
Trademark attorney Josh Gerben tweeted out a thread explaining that in response, Adidas has "taken court action" to block their attempt.
One of the main arguments offered by the famed sportswear manufacturer is that "consumers will believe that the goods and services offered under BLM's trademark are associated with or sponsored by Adidas."
Additionally, they allege that BLM incorporates the stripes in a similar manner and that "The goods and services offered by BLM under its proposed trademark are identical to or highly related to Adidas's offerings."
The filing also says that if BLM's trademark is approved, it will materially harm Adidas "by eroding consumers' exclusive identification of the Three-Stripe Mark with Adidas."
Does Adidas Have a Case Against BLM?
The Black Lives Matter organization does not have the best reputation when it comes to financial matters.
But Gerben is uncertain as to how strong Adidas's case is in this instance.
According to him, the different orientations and colors of the stripes might make it a difficult filing to win.
Trademark law is notoriously difficult to understand, and rulings are often unpredictable.
Adidas has been clearly associated with the three stripes their entire history. But BLM's stripes are the same size, as opposed to Adidas's decreasing sizes, and the yellow color might make this a difficult claim.
That said, Adidas presented a comparison of different items from them and the BLM store, and you can see how they thought the filing was worthwhile.
Credit: Josh Gerben/Twitter
Stay tuned!