H&M advertised and sold a range of workout clothing with stripes down the side. Adidas owns the well known Three Stripes brand. It objected to the use of stripes on the H&M clothing and complained and then sued H&M in the Netherlands for trade mark infringement.

25 years and several appeals later, the court decided that H&M had not infringed the Adidas trade marks for the Three Stripes. The court decided that consumers would not be likely to confuse or associate the H&M products with stripes with Adidas products.

Owners of well known brands actively promote and also protect the brands with registered trade marks. Part of the protection is to enforce legal rights in the brands. One concern for owners of famous brands is the erosion of distinctiveness by others using brands which may not be the same or closely similar but which are sufficiently similar or evoke the reputation of the brand to attract customers.

This case is an example of a brand owner trying to maintain that distinctiveness. Adidas was seeking to push the boundary of the legal protection for its brands. Ultimately, Adidas were found to have been pushing too far.

The important point is that a brand properly protected with registered trade marks gives an owner with sufficient funds to enforce the legal rights a very powerful market weapon.