| In Three Stripes Trial adidas Sues
Thom Browne Which Says No One Confused by
$1000 Pants
By Matthew
Russell Lee, Patreon Maxwell
Book
SDNY COURTHOUSE,
Jan 9 - In mid 2021 adidas
sued Thom Browne for
infringing on its "three
stripe" mark with a four
stripe design.
Now in January 2023 U.S.
District Court for the
Southern District of New
York Judge Jed S. Rakoff
is holding a jury trial.
Inner City Press is covering
it.
The
benches in the back of the
courtroom are covered with
boxes of "physical exhibits,"
including shoes. In the front,
Thom Browne is wearing a suit
jacket -- with shorts.
On the witness
stand on January 4, an adidas
executive testifying about the
company's running business,
and clothing lines. He
described sales over Instgram.
He insisted that adidas is
selling products for up to
$3000.
Thom Browne in SDNY, courtesy to
Inner City Press by Elizabeth Williams
On January
5, an expert who conducted
polls, though not of fame.
Meanwhile the SDNY courthouse
marvels at the
disproportionate interest in
this case, while defendants
are being sentenced to twenty
or thirty years in other, more
empty courtroom. Judge Rakoff
does his criminal cases at
4:30. And Inner City Press
covers both.
On January 9, a
Thom Browne witness with a
heavy Italian accent was on
the stand, calling Thom
Browne's design "timeless" and
describing the company's
contract with FC Barcelona for
formal wear for the team, and
Leonel Messi's contract with
adidas.
Judge
Rakoff asked someone to hold
up two items from the rack on
the side of the courtroom. A
woman in the front row of the
gallery did. Judge Rakoff
joked about a third item, need
a third hand. The witness'
distinction between vertical
and horizontal stripes or bar
was undermined.
On January 12, in
closing argument, Thom
Browne's lawyer said that
there was no evidence that
anyone ever bought a thousand
dollar pair of sweat pants
because they thought they were
adidas. He contested the
survey that had been presented
as "post-sale," and
incomplete. It will be up to
the jury. Watch this site.
This case is
adidas America, Inc. et al v.
Thom Browne, Inc., 21-cv-5615
(Rakoff)
***
Your
support means a lot. As little as $5 a month
helps keep us going and grants you access to
exclusive bonus material on our Patreon
page. Click
here to become a patron.
Feedback:
Editorial [at] innercitypress.com
SDNY Press Room 480, front cubicle
500 Pearl Street, NY NY 10007 USA
Mail: Box 20047, Dag
Hammarskjold Station NY NY 10017
Reporter's mobile (and weekends):
718-716-3540
Other, earlier Inner City Press are
listed here,
and some are available in the ProQuest
service, and now on Lexis-Nexis.
Copyright 2006-2022 Inner City
Press, Inc. To request reprint or other
permission, e-contact Editorial [at]
innercitypress.com
|
,
