Adidas AG may have to give the state of Oregon $82 million of its winnings in a trademark-infringement case against Payless ShoeSource. According to Bloomberg News, Oregon is entitled to 60% of punitive damage awards that involve state-law claims, the state's lawyer said in papers filed in federal court in Portland.


A federal jury on May 5 issued a $304.6 million verdict against Topeka, Kansas-based Payless for selling shoes that violated Adidas's three-stripe trademark. The award included $137 million in punitive damages against Payless.

The state should be allowed to intervene “should either party, or both, seek to defeat or evade the state's 60 percent interest in the punitive damages,'' Oregon Assistant Attorney General Frederick Ruby said in the filing.


Oregon said its share of the punitive damages would be dedicated to a restitution fund for crime victims, according to court papers filed May 23.


Adidas opposed Oregon's request, arguing in a June 3 filing that U.S. District Judge Garr King hasn't entered final judgment in the case. Payless also opposes Oregon's request.


Payless, a unit of Collective Brands Inc., was sued by Adidas in 2005 for selling shoes with two- and four-stripe motifs. Payless is challenging Adidas's request for an injunction in the case, arguing it's too broad.


Adidas's lawyer Stephen Feldman, of the firm Perkins Coie in Portland, didn't immediately return a call for comment.


The case is Adidas America Inc. v. Payless ShoeSource Inc., 3:01-cv-01655, U.S. District Court, District of Oregon (Portland).