adidas is suing Forever 21 for copyright infringement of its Three-Stripe Mark.
Forever 21 has been embroiled in various legal battles (some examples here and here) in the past, and it is now being sued by sportswear giant, adidas, for copyright infringement.
In accordance to the suit, adidas alleges that Forever 21 “intentionally adopted and used counterfeit and/or confusingly similar imitations of the Three-Stripe Mark knowing that they would mislead and deceive consumers into believing that the apparel was produced, authorized, or licensed by adidas, or that the apparel originated from adidas.”
The items in contention are part of Forever 21’s range of sweatshirts based on the characters from Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and Looney Tunes. The stripes are prominently displayed on the sleeves and other variations are seen to fall against the hemline.
adidas is appealing to a federal judge to prevent Forever 21 from distributing, marketing or selling clothing that bears this branding and is also seeking the company to “disgorge all profits from sales of the counterfeit and/or infringing apparel.”
Forever 21 is not the only one to have incorporated the Three-Stripe Mark into its clothing. In April this year, Marc Jacobs was sued by adidas for a similar offence.
Source: The Fashion Law