Ads for declaratory judgment plaintiff Brooks’ PUREPROJECT (top)
and defendant Adidas’ ADIPURE athletic shoes
It’s PUREPROJECT vs. ADIPURE.
Brooks Sports, Inc. vs. Adidas AG.
On June 3, Brooks filed suit seeking a declaratory judgment that its new PUREPROJECT shoe brand does not infringe Adidas’ ADIPURE shoe brand.
The Western District complaint alleges that athletic shoe designers have used “Pure” as part of a trademark for years and such use remains common today.
Brooks also claims that consumers associate the “Adi” formative and three-stripe design with Adidas, not the formative “Pure.”
“Defendants simply do not have any valid trademark rights in the term “pure” alone,” the complaint states.
Brooks alleges it filed suit in response to Adidas’ letters threatening to file suit itself.
Adidas has not yet answered Brooks’ complaint.
The case cite is Brooks Sports, Inc. v. Adidas AG, No. 11-0937 (W.D Wash.)