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The trademark registration of Black Lives Matter was opposed by Adidas on Monday, saying that the trademark is "confusingly similar" to the brand's iconic three-striped emblem. However, within 48 hours, the sportswear brand decided to reverse their opposition.
Black Lives Matter's three parallel striped branding is quite similar to the iconic logo of the sportswear brand. Both brands offer merchandise that includes T-shirts and other apparel. According to the sportswear brand, it can confuse consumers to identify the original manufacturer and they can also mistake the product as a result of a collaboration between the two brands, which doesn't seem to be the case.
3 key details about Adidas X Black Lives Matter logo copyright battle
1) Adidas requested to reject the application from Black Lives Matter for their trademark on March 27.
According to the US Trademark Office, in September 2021, the Black Lives Matter Global Network Foundation, an organization in the decentralized movement, filed a trademark request.
On March 27, 2023, the German Sportswear brand contacted the US Trademark Office to request the rejection of the application from the Black Lives Matter Global Network Foundation for their trademark because its emblem appeared quite similar to the one belonging to the sportswear brand. According to them, a similar logo can create confusion among customers and can also lead to various misconceptions about the two brands.
2) On March 29, Adidas decided to withdraw their request as soon as possible.
According to Reuters,
"Adidas will withdraw its opposition to the Black Lives Matter Global Network Foundation's trademark application as soon as possible,"
Within just 48 hours, the sportswear brand decided to withdraw their request from the US Trademark Office against the application from the Black Lives Matter Global Network Foundation for their trademark. However, the brand did not specify any particular reason for the backstep.
However, another point here that needs to be considered is that the sportswear label withdrew its opposition to the registration of the mark without prejudicing its future ability to dispute the it. This means that in the future, Black Lives Matter could face the same challenge again!
3) The reason behind the withdrawal could be to prevent becoming an object of criticism for coming between Black Lives Matter's missions.
Reuters said,
"A source close to the company said the rapid about-turn was triggered by concern that people could misinterpret Adidas' trademark objection as criticism of Black Lives Matter's mission."
The New York Times also reported that, in 2019 Black workers at Adidas' North American headquarters in Portland experienced discrimination and marginalization on a regular basis. According to an investigation done by the New York Times, just 4.5% of the 1,700 workers in the Portland branch of the brand were African-American in 2018.
As per court records from a case the sportswear brand took against fashion designer Thom Browne's house, the brand alleges that they have issued more than 90 lawsuits and entered over 200 negotiations relating to the three-stripe trademark over the past 15 years. Now, only time will show the result of all this hassle on Adidas.
