The Court of Appeal has upheld the High Court judgment in the case of adidas v Thom Browne [2024] EWHC 2990 (Ch), whereby eight of Adidas’ position trade marks for their iconic three stripes were invalidated and were deemed to be imprecise as signs.
This follows Arnold LJ’s consideration as to whether Adidas’ marks were signs that were capable of being represented graphically in a clear, precise, self-contained, easily accessible, intelligible, durable and objective manner, per the case of Sieckmann, and that the signs were capable of distinguishing the goods and services of one undertaking from those of other undertakings.
Arnold LJ found that the position marks could not be distinctive due to ambiguity over how the marks were to be positioned compared to the written descriptions accompanying the marks, and thus upheld the invalidation of the marks by the High Court.
This appeal decision reaffirms the landmark judgment of the High Court. It remains to be seen whether Adidas will seek to appeal the Court of Appeal judgment, and if such an appeal would be granted. Should Adidas be granted permission to appeal, it will doubtless be of great interest to many.
If you have any questions on the above, or if you need any advice or support in respect of your own intellectual property, please do not hesitate to contact the team at McDaniels Law on 0191 281 4000 or legal@mcdanielslaw.com.
