adidas takes Thom Browne back to court

Judge Jed Rakoff of the Southern District of New York has scheduled a hearing for 21 December to hear new arguments surrounding the intent of the disclosure of four additional emails that emerged after the conclusion of the initial trial. adidas previously sued Browne for using the four stripes, claiming it caused confusion with the sports brand.

However, the designer claims he was using stripes for many years to reference college inspirations. In January, an eight-person jury returned with a verdict declaring that Browne was not liable for damages or profits from the sale of four-stripe products.

It doesn’t seem to end there. At the time, adidas America and adidas AG were seeking compensation of US$867,225, claiming that was the amount they would have obtained from Thom Browne as licensing fees if the two brands had collaborated, and US$7,011,961 million in profits they claimed the US designer had made from the sale of apparel and footwear with stripes. New emails surfaced in which employees warned the designer about using the stripe because it would create confusion with adidas.

Now, adidas is seeking a retrial to test the new emails. Browne argues that the emails were never intentionally concealed. Browne’s lawyer has also reiterated that “adidas’ hands are clean”, claiming that the sports brand had breached the UK confidentiality agreement by sharing the emails with the company’s US lawyer earlier than it had originally disclosed.

adidas is fighting for a retrial in the legal battle against Thom Browne.