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Sportswear maker Adidas AG on Wednesday reversed course 48 hours after asking the US Trademark Office to reject Black Lives Matter’s application for a trademark featuring three parallel lines.
“Adidas will withdraw its opposition to the Black Lives Matter Global Network Foundation’s trademark application as soon as possible,” the company said in a statement.
A source close to the company said the swift change was prompted by concerns that people might mistake Adidas’ trademark objections as criticism of its Black Lives Matter mission.
Adidas has told the trademark office on Monday that the Black Lives Matter Global Network Foundation’s yellow stripe design is so similar to the famous three-stripe mark that it is “likely to cause confusion.”
It sought to block the group’s application to use the design on items the German sports maker also sells, such as T-shirts, hats and bags.
Adidas is struggling financially after ending its lucrative Yeezy shoe partnership with Kanye West due to antisemitic comments he made on social media and in interviews.
The sports company has also ended Ivy Park’s collaboration with Beyonce, according to media reports this week. Adidas’ contract with the pop star will expire at the end of this year.
BLM applied for a trademark in 2020
Adidas said in a submission that it has been using the logo since 1952, and the Black Lives Matter design can cause confusion, making buyers think the goods are connected or come from the same source.
The Black Lives Matter Global Network Foundation is the most prominent entity of the decentralized Black Lives Matter movement, which emerged ten years ago as a protest against police violence against black people.
The group applied for a federal trademark in November 2020 for the three-yellow-stripe design used on a variety of products including clothing, publications, bags, bracelets and mugs.
A representative from the group Black Lives Matter did not immediately respond to a request for comment Tuesday.
Adidas has filed more than 90 lawsuits and signed more than 200 settlement agreements related to the three-stripe trademark since 2008, according to court documents from a lawsuit the company brought against designer Thom Browne.
A jury in the case ruled in January that Thom Browne’s striped pattern did not infringe Adidas’ trademark rights.
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