Steve Madden Sues Adidas to Protect Its Own Use of Stripes

Footwear company Steve Madden is suing Adidas over stripes. 

In a lawsuit filed on Wednesday in Eastern New York court, Steve Madden is requesting the court declare that the brand’s use of two parallel lines on its products does not violate the three-stripe trademarks Adidas is synonymous with. 

In court filings, Steve Madden accuses Adidas of “illegal and anticompetitive” practices to corner the market and monopolize patterns that are used throughout fashion, which in this case is parallel lines. 

“Adidas has engaged in a systematic pattern of broadly asserting its Three Stripe Mark and Three-Stripe Registrations, contending that any number of stripes on clothing items and footwear in any orientation or positioning allegedly infringe its rights,” the lawsuit states. 

In the complaint, Steve Madden said it is “tired of being targeted by Adidas with regard to footwear with design elements that bear no resemblance to Adidas’ purported Three-Stripe Mark.” Pointing specifically to two of its new sneaker designs, the Viento, which has two non-parallel bands, and Janos, which has a K-shape, Steve Madden says shoes “bearing two band designs have been offered by many different companies in footwear.”

Adidas has sued Steve Madden over the years after complaining about the company’s infringement on its Three-Stripe Mark. In 2002, Adidas sued the shoe brand in two separate cases alleging its footwear with two and four parallel stripes both infringed on the Three-Stripe Mark. The cases were combined and settled out of court, but the current lawsuit alleges that Adidas didn’t stop complaining afterward. 

“I don’t think Adidas has a strong case against Madden here: I don’t think the designs on the Janos or Vientos shoes create a likelihood of confusion with any of the Adidas marks, or that consumers will think those shoes are Adidas products because of those designs,” says Alexandra Roberts, a trademark lawyer and professor at Northeastern University Law School. “That means a declaratory judgment of noninfringement would be appropriate.”

By suing Adidas, Steve Madden said it’s aiming to end the “pattern of intimidation” Adidas continues to deploy on it, arguing the company has wrongfully widened its trademark rights over almost any stripe design, regardless of number, color, shape, etc. 

Attorneys for Steve Madden did not immediately respond to a request for comment. An Adidas spokesperson declined to comment.