NEW YORK — The continuing battle between Adidas and Thom Browne over the usage of stripes on apparel and footwear kicked into high gear in the brand new yr because the two brands faced off in Manhattan’s Southern District Court Tuesday in a trademark dispute case.

The trial in front of Judge Jed Rakoff began with attorneys on both sides laying out their arguments to a jury, which can determine if the luxurious designer infringed on Adidas’ trademark for 3 parallel stripes which were a staple of the brand for the reason that Forties.

Adidas is looking for damages in the quantity of $867,225 — the quantity that it says the corporate would have received in licensing fees from Thom Browne Inc., if the 2 had worked together — in addition to the $7 million in profits it alleges the American fashion brand made selling apparel and footwear with stripes, based on R. Charles Henn Jr. of Kilpatrick Townsend & Stockton LLP, who represents Adidas.

In his opening argument, Henn told the jurors that the trademarked three-stripe mark has been utilized in the U.S. since 1952 and Adidas spends some $300 million a yr in promoting and brings in $3.1 billion within the sale of footwear and apparel bearing the motif. He showed examples of the brand getting used vertically and horizontally in a variety of colours on a wide range of products including track pants, T-shirts, jackets and sneakers.

When Thom Browne began his brand, he used three stripes on some items similar to sweaters to reference the varsity and collegiate sports uniforms that he has since develop into known for, in addition to a red, white and blue grosgrain that’s now a signature of the gathering.

Henn argued that when Adidas discovered the usage of the stripes, it approached Browne’s then chief executive officer and the designer agreed to alter to a four-stripe detail. Even so, consumers still see it as three stripes, Henn said, citing a recent survey that was conducted where 2,400 consumers were shown images of Thom Browne striped product and 26.9 percent thought the product was made by Adidas.

The issue was exacerbated because the Thom Browne brand grew and expanded beyond its core of tailored clothing for men into a wide range of sports-related products for men, women and kids, including compression running gear, golf shirts, T-shirts, hoodies and other casual product, Henn said, in a “targeted try to grow its sportswear business.”

Thom Browne also inked deals to decorate FC Barcelona and its star athlete on the time, Lionel Messi, who had been an Adidas-sponsored ambassador for 15 years, in addition to the Cleveland Cavaliers of the NBA where Adidas has had a “long relationship,” he said. The FC Barcelona deal was for off-the-field apparel, nonetheless, and the designer created custom tailored looks for the Cavaliers throughout the NBA Playoffs in 2018 that they wore within the tunnel as they arrived at the sector.

Although Henn said it shouldn’t be likely that any consumer would purchase a high-end Thom Browne product considering it was Adidas — a track pant from Adidas retails for around $55 while a Thom Browne version is greater than $1,000 — it still led to confusion amongst shoppers.

In his rebuttal, Thom Browne’s attorney, Robert T. Maldonado of Wolf, Greenfield & Sacks P.C., said while the designer shouldn’t be questioning Adidas’s trademark rights to the three stripes, it had agreed to alter its motif to 4 stripes in 2007 in order to not get into an prolonged legal battle with the German-based “powerhouse” sports brand.

However the indisputable fact that Adidas didn’t object to Browne’s use of 4 stripes from 2008, when it made its debut during a fashion show, until 2018, when Adidas approached the Thom Browne team to barter a settlement, is the crux of the brand’s argument. “Thom Browne doesn’t agree that a decadelong delay is suitable,” Maldonado said.

As well as, the attorney said Thom Browne doesn’t consider consumers are confused by any similarities between the brands or that Adidas was harmed by the brand’s use of stripes.

Maldonado went on to introduce the designer, who was seated within the front of the courtroom in shorts and shrunken jacket, to the jury, saying that his outfit was not for his or her profit, but is the “uniform” that he and his staff wear each day. He said the brand has now develop into known for the 4 parallel bars on the sleeves or pant legs in addition to its grosgrain tag on the clothes, which have been “branding elements” for the past decade or more.

He said Browne has been designing casual clothes similar to cardigan sweaters and shorts for greater than 15 years and introduced jersey sweatpants in 2009, drawing inspiration from varsity sports, not Adidas.

“Thom Browne doesn’t compete with Adidas,” he said. “Thom Browne is a luxury designer and Adidas is a sports brand.”

Over the course of the trial, he said the brand will talk in regards to the use of stripes in fashion and sports dating back “centuries,” and may even show that Adidas has no trademark for anything aside from the three stripes which can be almost at all times used vertically on its apparel and footwear while Browne’s are used horizontally.

He said that if the designer is forced to stop using the 4 bars or the grosgrain tags, it’ll have a major impact on the business that has grown to 69 million euros within the third quarter of this yr. Browne sold a majority stake within the brand to Ermenegildo Zegna in 2018.

“Three stripes usually are not similar to 4 horizontal bars,” Maldonado argued, adding that Adidas must have known years earlier that Browne was using stripes in his collection. “They fell asleep on the wheel and woke up too late,” he said.

The trial is anticipated to last about two weeks and Browne in addition to the corporate’s CEO Rodrigo Bazan are each expected to testify.