Adidas’ Three-Stripe Trademark Survives Thom Browne’s Challenge

Thom Browne Inc. lost its bid to cancel adidas America Inc.'s “three-quadrilaterals” trademark.

Thom Browne failed to show that the design should be canceled as “aesthetically functional,” Judge Jed S. Rakoff of the US District Court for the Southern District of New York ruled Tuesday.

Rakoff adopted the reasoning of US Magistrate Judge Robert W. Lehrburger that Thom Browne didn’t show the mark “significantly undermines competitors’ ability to compete in the relevant market"—the standard set by the US Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit.

Although the mark consists of three right leaning stripes, Thom Browne focused its aesthetic functionality ...