Brand battle: Steve Madden sues Adidas over design

US shoe brand Steve Madden has sued the German sportswear giant Adidas. In the complaint, Steve Madden stated that they were “fed up” with Adidas continuing to object to designs that they believe do not infringe on Adidas’ brand image. Steve Madden’s complaint was filed on Wednesday in the federal court in Brooklyn, New York. Reuters was the first to report this.

The dispute centers on two recent Steve Madden models: the Viento, with two straps, and the Janos, whose straps resemble the letter "K." Adidas allegedly demanded that sales of the Viento be halted because of possible consumer confusion. Steve Madden disagrees and is suing Adidas over their attempt to "monopolize" the use of stripes (that one party gets exclusive rights over something, ed.). Steve Madden believes that Adidas does not have the exclusive right to stripes on shoes and is suing Adidas for trying to prevent Steve Madden from selling sneakers with stripes.

Steve Madden referenced previous lawsuits against Adidas. In 2002, Adidas sued the company twice over shoes with two and four parallel stripes. This led to a confidential settlement a year later. This new conflict, found in the online legal news service Law360 under the name Steven Madden Ltd v Adidas AG et al, US District Court, Eastern District of New York, nr. 25-02847, is separate from that agreement.

Adidas is known for taking action against the use of stripes in shoe and clothing designs that resemble their signature three stripes. A well-known example is the long-running conflict with H&M over the stripes on the Work Out collection, which lasted for 24 years. In 2021, Adidas ultimately lost. Other brands, including Thom Browne, K-Swiss, Fitnessworld, Nike, Isabel Marant and Sandro, also faced legal action from Adidas regarding the stripes.

FashionUnited has contacted both parties for comment.