Adidas to Pull Opposition to Black Lives Matter's Three-Stripe Trademark

By Joshua Kirby

Adidas AG said it will retract its opposition to campaign group 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 opposition to the Black Lives Matter Global Network Foundation's trademark application as soon as possible, a spokesman for the German firm told Dow Jones Newswires on Wednesday.

The company had submitted its opposition to the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, a move first reported by news agency Reuters on Tuesday. In its filing, dated Monday, 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 said.

The BLM foundation in 2020 submitted an application to trademark its logo, consisting of three horizontal yellow lines on a transparent background.

The BLM foundation didn't immediately respond to a request for comment.

Write to Joshua Kirby at joshua.kirby@wsj.com; @joshualeokirby

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

March 29, 2023 04:08 ET (08:08 GMT)

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