Steve Madden filed a lawsuit in Brooklyn’s federal court against Adidas, announcing it was “tired” of being targeted by the company for using elements that bear no resemblance to Adidas’ signature three parallel stripe design.
The dispute centers on two recent Steve Madden models: the Viento, with two straps, and the Janos, whose straps resemble the letter “K.”
Adidas allegedly demanded that Steve Madden halt the sales of the Viento because of possible consumer confusion and signaled to the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office that it could formally challenge the Janos design.
In its complaint, Steve Madden disagreed and charged that Adidas is trying to “monopolize” the use of the stripes.
“The use of band designs on footwear is ubiquitous in the fashion industry,” Steve Madden said in the complaint. “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 referenced previous lawsuits from Adidas. In 2002, Adidas sued the company twice over shoes with two and four parallel stripes, leading to a confidential settlement a year later.
The lawsuit seeks a judgment that the Viento and Janos designs do not infringe Adidas’ trademarks or three-stripe design, allowing Steve Madden to continue sales.
Adidas is known for taking legal action against using stripes on shoe and clothing designs that resemble its signature three stripes, including lawsuits against H&M, Thom Browne, K-Swiss, Fitnessworld, Nike, Isabel Marant, and Sand.
Image courtesy Adidas
