This lawsuit began in the 1990s in the Netherlands, in connection with H&M’s sale of blue, marigold, and rust-hued athletic wares emblazoned with two parallel vertical stripes on the sleeves of t-shirts and the sides of shorts and pants legs. The Dutch court held that H&M did not infringe Adidas’ three-stripe logo by way of its two-stripe apparel. One report, for instance, which was provided by H&M revealed that only 10% of the consumers who were surveyed said “adidas” after viewing H&M’s striped workout clothing.

With such a lack of consumer confusion in mind, and given that “there must be a real likelihood of confusion on the part of the average informed, circumspect and observant ordinary consumer of the goods or services in question”. The Hague Court of Appeal sided with H&M and has ordered Adidas to pay €80,745 to cover the retailer’s legal costs for a portion of the proceedings.

🔗 Source: https://www.thefashionlaw.com/hm-prevails-in-25-year…/