Three Stripes Case

The Moscow Arbitration Court banned the Perekrestok Trading House from selling goods with designations confusingly similar to the Adidas trademark in the form of three oblique stripes.

More than 70 thousand rubles were collected from Perekrestok as compensation for the violation of Adidas's trademark rights.

The plaintiffs in the case were the Adidas AG company (Adidas AG - the parent company of the German Adidas Group), as well as the Dutch company Adidas International Marketing B.V. (Adidas International Marketing BV). Both are copyright holders of three Adidas trademarks registered with the International Bureau of the World Intellectual Property Organization

They asked to collect from the Perekrestok Trading House 1 million 127 thousand rubles for the sale of shoes marked, like the goods of a well-known sports company, with three stripes. The amount of the claim included penalties in the amount of 50 thousand rubles for illegal use of a trademark in an advertisement for a product similar to Adidas. It was featured in a free newspaper distributed in the chain's hypermarkets.

Thus, the court partially satisfied the applicants ’claim. The operative part of the decision was announced. His motivating part of the party will receive 19 October. Lawyers of the companies refused to comment on the outcome of the case and their further actions.

According to Anna Kakurnikova, a representative of Adidas in court, the designation on the shoes sold at Perekrestok Trading House is "similar to the extent of confusion with the Adidas trademarks and practically identical." The lawyer said that in 2011-2012, representatives of the Adidas company purchased one of the Perekrestok hypermarkets - Karusel - a total of six pairs of men's, youth and children's shoes, which bore symbols similar to the Adidas trademark, namely - several oblique vertical stripes contrasting with the main color of the product. According to her, after purchasing the first three pairs of shoes in 2011, the Adidas company sent a claim to the Pereretok Trading House, which sent her an answer that the shoes were no longer sold. However, subsequently, in the course of two more such “test” purchases, the sale of similar goods was discovered.

The representative of TD Perekrestok did not admit the claim in court. She, in particular, noted that the defendant did not manufacture shoes and did not place on them symbols similar to the Adidas trademark. In addition, shoes were sold at a price 3-4 times less than the goods of a well-known sports manufacturer. “This in itself eliminates confusion for the consumer,” she said. Writes about this bfm.ru.