An Adidas store in New York.
Photo:
Gabby Jones/Bloomberg News
Adidas AG
ADDYY 0.41%
said it would retract its opposition to Black Lives Matter’s bid to trademark its logo design, which the sportswear company had previously said was too similar to its own.
Adidas will withdraw its challenge to the Black Lives Matter Global Network Foundation’s trademark application as soon as possible, a spokesman for the German company said Wednesday.
The company had submitted its opposition to the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office in a filing dated Monday. In the filing, Adidas stressed its decadeslong use of a three-stripe logo on its footwear, apparel and sporting goods in the U.S., and argued that the BLM logo was “confusingly similar.”
Trademarking the BLM foundation’s logo would dilute the distinctiveness of the three-stripe mark, Adidas said. “Registration would be a source of damage and injury,” it added.
The BLM foundation in 2020 submitted an application to trademark its logo, which consists of three horizontal yellow lines on a transparent background.
The BLM foundation didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.
BLM was founded in 2013 and gained greater prominence in 2020 following the death of
George Floyd,
a Black man, while in police custody. The organization’s stated mission is to “eradicate white supremacy and build local power to intervene in violence inflicted on Black communities by the state and vigilantes.”
Write to Joshua Kirby at joshua.kirby@wsj.com
Copyright ©2022 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 87990cbe856818d5eddac44c7b1cdeb8
An Adidas store in New York.
Photo:
Gabby Jones/Bloomberg News
Adidas AG
ADDYY 0.41%
said it would retract its opposition to Black Lives Matter’s bid to trademark its logo design, which the sportswear company had previously said was too similar to its own.
Adidas will withdraw its challenge to the Black Lives Matter Global Network Foundation’s trademark application as soon as possible, a spokesman for the German company said Wednesday.
The company had submitted its opposition to the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office in a filing dated Monday. In the filing, Adidas stressed its decadeslong use of a three-stripe logo on its footwear, apparel and sporting goods in the U.S., and argued that the BLM logo was “confusingly similar.”
Trademarking the BLM foundation’s logo would dilute the distinctiveness of the three-stripe mark, Adidas said. “Registration would be a source of damage and injury,” it added.
The BLM foundation in 2020 submitted an application to trademark its logo, which consists of three horizontal yellow lines on a transparent background.
The BLM foundation didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.
BLM was founded in 2013 and gained greater prominence in 2020 following the death of
George Floyd,
a Black man, while in police custody. The organization’s stated mission is to “eradicate white supremacy and build local power to intervene in violence inflicted on Black communities by the state and vigilantes.”
Write to Joshua Kirby at joshua.kirby@wsj.com
Copyright ©2022 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 87990cbe856818d5eddac44c7b1cdeb8