Adidas Sues Two Russian Shoe Retailers, Wins One Case, Loses Another

German-based sports apparel manufacturer Adidas has recently won one and lost one legal battle against two Russian shoe retailers that sold sneakers with Adidas’ trademark diagonal stripes.

Earlier this month, Adidas lost the trademark infringement suit against Alba, a retailer with 70 outlets in Russia. Adidas demanded that the disputed 400 pairs of sneakers be destroyed and sought EUR 63,801 (USD 86,413) in compensation, but the Moscow Arbitration Court dismissed its claims. We were not able to obtain the exact basis of the court’s decision.

The same court, however, ruled in favor of Adidas in August 2009, following the lawsuit started in May 2009 against Tsentrobuv, Russian largest shoe retailer with 300 stores across the country. Adidas claimed that women’s sneakers bearing the mark of Centro were confusingly similar to its own. The court confiscated all disputed goods and ordered the defendant to pay the plaintiff EUR 766 (USD 1037) in damages.

For more information, please contact Andriy Nikolayenko at our Ukraine office.

Source: Pravo.ru