The Trademark Dispute Between Adidas And Adidas For Five Years Has Finally Come To A Conclusion.

"Adidas and Adi have reached a settlement." In July 18th, Adidas confirmed the news, which meant that the dispute over the five years in which the two sides had been running for many years had finally come to a conclusion.

In this long and persistent confrontation, the multinational giant has finally finished a "heart attack" and the adidas sporting goods (China) Co., Ltd., located in Quanzhou headquarters, will no longer have the trademark of Adi Wang.

Adidas said that the content of the settlement was confidential and no party could disclose its contents.

The reporter was informed that the agreement contained two aspects: first, the defendant, Adi Wang (including dealers, regional agents, franchisees) should not continue to use the Chinese trademark containing the logo of ADI triangle logo and "Adi Wang" in the products, packaging and promotional materials; two, since April 7th, all the shops of Adi Wang company should not have the "triangle" and "Adi Wang" words. In case of breach of contract, 3 million yuan shall be paid.

This statement has been confirmed in Adidas's letter to its agents and franchisees.

A person who understands the case told reporters that "Adidas and Adidas have not been successful in the dispute over the past five years. But Adi Wang Kun has given the trademark to Adidas, because after the development of the enterprise, it has been dubbed" Shanzhai "and is not pleasant to hear, and has an impact on the future of the enterprise. So this time Adi Wang gave up trademark use, and Adidas also had some financial compensation for Adi Wang. It may be concerned about the impact of the case on both sides, and compensation is also carried out in private. "

After reconciliation, the name of Adidas sporting goods (China) Co., Ltd. is always retained, and its English Adivon logo is perpetual.

It is not uncommon for Chinese sports brands to play ball games. At present, Jordan's lawsuit against Jordan, a domestic sports brand, has not yet ended. Jordan's prosecution has affected its IPO process.

　 Multinational giants failed

A reconciliation agreement has been reached, but Adidas has not confirmed it.

Adi Wang mentioned to its agents such as the "trademark and enterprise name standard usage", "about the trademark dispute between our company and Adidas limited, over the years, the two sides have gone through a lot of legal procedures without satisfactory results. The two sides finally settled in the form of reconciliation in the near future with consideration of their long-term development."

The dispute originated in August 2008.

At that time, Adidas took the king of Adidas and Yingkou's individual owner Guo to court on the grounds of his infringement of trademark exclusive rights and unfair competition. In 2006, Guo signed a franchise agreement with the Northeast Branch of ADI, selling and selling the brand of Adi Wang. However, Adidas believes that it is labeled "Adi Wang", "Adivon" and the combination of logo and logo, which is enough to cause confusion and misidentification of the public, infringe on Adidas's exclusive right to use registered trademarks, and constitutes unfair competition for the company.

Subsequently, the "protracted war" also involves jurisdiction disagreement, trademark similarity and so on. The case was tried five times in three courts of three levels in Yingkou, Dalian and Beijing, and was again sent back to the Municipal Intermediate People's court for retrial. However, many trials also made Adidas lose many times. In July 21, 2009, Adidas filed a lawsuit again in Wuhan intermediate people's Court of Hubei Province, but the outcome remained unchanged.

Because the Trademark Review and Adjudication Board of the State Administration for Industry and Commerce held that the trademark "Adi Wang" and "Adidas" did not constitute similar trademarks on similar commodities, and did not infringe Adidas's trade name rights. Adidas, which repeatedly failed in safeguarding its rights, filed the Trademark Review and Adjudication Board with the court to request the court to abolish the ruling of the Trademark Review and Adjudication Board. Adidas believes that it has invested a lot of money to publicize trademarks such as "Adidas" and "Adidas" for a long time, and has already become well-known trademarks. It should strengthen the protection of these trademarks and not approve the registration of disputed trademarks.

The case was held in March 15th this year, but Adidas ended up losing.

In April this year, the case of Adidas v. v. ADI was held in Dalian.

In the above letters to franchisees, the "Adidas" (including dealers, regional agents, franchisees) should not continue to use the trademark containing the trademark of ADI triangle LOGO and "Adi Wang" logo in the trademark notification letter, mainly for new products, new shops and renovated stores.

"Before April 7th, the original products and existing stores (not refurbished) can still continue to use ADI's trademark and LOGO, with a buffer period of four years." This means that the inventory and related products can be sold as long as April 6, 2017.

　 Road to reconciliation

For Adidas, intellectual property rights are also a constant concern. In its group, specialized brand maintenance commissioners and investigators have been working with legal advisers.

For Adi Wang, its market layout has been in the three or four line city, and the name of Shanzhai also worries him. The expansion of Adidas's low line cities also makes it necessary to focus on a small role such as Adi Wang.

"Brand is the core value of an enterprise, and people who want to own their brands continue to have disputes all day long, or Shanzhai everywhere." An industry insider told reporters.

"For Adidas China, low tier cities are important areas of growth. These urban residents can increase their disposable income and be more brand conscious. Adidas said.

In Adidas's brand research in 2012, its position in the minds of consumers in the low tier cities has been enhanced, and a strategy named "road to the 2015" has been formulated. In this strategy, Adidas plans to reach 1400 low level cities in 2015.

At present, Adidas operates in over 900 low level cities, and the expansion of low tier cities is helping Adidas grow. In 2012, Adidas opened 800 new stores, half of which were in the low tier cities. At present, Adidas operates more than 7000 stores in China, nearly half of which are in low tier cities.

In 2013, Adidas plans to open more than 500 stores in high speed and low line cities.

For Adi Wang, close to 800 stores and more than 600 million of sales have forced them to pay attention to the future. The person familiar with the matter said. Whether it's a scratch ball or a Adidas brand, the size of the brand must be taken into account. This is also a common problem of many sports brands in China. We must attach importance to intellectual property rights. In recent years, ADI has begun to exercise in products, and try to make lifestyle products.

"Business men's wear and casual men's wear are now on the way. After all, we still have Adivon, which is completely separate from Adidas and no longer Shanzhai. " The above said.

In fact, it is not uncommon for Chinese sports brands to play ball games.

At present, Jordan's lawsuit against Jordan, a domestic sports brand, has not yet ended, and Jordan sports has taken Jordan himself to court. Jordan, director of brand marketing Huang Tao, said Jordan's prosecution did affect its IPO process, but at the moment, IPO has not yet opened the gate and is waiting.

In contrast, Iverson, another brand in China, may have some references. It signed the same name as NBA star Alan Everson in September last year, making it its spokesman. However, the industry insiders said that the cost of signing the contract is 3 million to 4 million per year. "Iverson asked to take part in brand building and participate in basketball. shoes Design, research and development, and do some brand derivative products in China, such as small pendants and so on. At present, the brand has about 500 stores.