Adidas AG is a corporation headquartered in Herzogenaurach, Germany; Adidas is one of the largest sportswear manufacturers in Europe.
It is the holding company for the Adidas Group, including the Reebok Sportswear company alongside stakes in a German football club and Runtastic, an Austrian fitness technology company.
Despite now being one of the largest sportswear brands in the world, Adidas had fairly humble beginnings. Brothers initially started it, however in 1949, relations broke down between them. They went their own ways with Rudolph starting the rival sports company Puma and Adolph, also known as Adi launching Adidas. The separation of brothers sparked a long-running feud that split their hometown in two, the town of Herzogenaurach was so divided on the issue that the town earned the nickname ”The town of bent necks” owing to the fact that people would look down to see which shoes strangers wore. Even the town’s two football teams were divided between Puma and Adidas. The two brothers never reconciled, but both went on to pioneer large sports brands in their own right. With that said, Adidas is, without a doubt, far more successful than Puma.
From humble beginnings, Adidas is now the second-biggest provider of sportswear worldwide.
Adi Dassler ran the company until he died in 1978. The company was handed down to his son Horst Dassler; however, in 1990, the company was bought by Bernard Tapie in the aftermath of Horst’s death, and it’s speculated that Adidas narrowly avoided collapse. Adidas is now thought to be worth over 15 billion USD.
Famous Adidas Trademarks
Though the company is no longer owned by the Dassler family and has outgrown its roots, many marks remain, including the HQ and the trademarks owned by Adidas. Today, we’ll look at some of the most significant Adidas trademarks.
Adidas
The wordmark Adidas was trademarked in 1970, following its first recorded use in 1954. The trademark applies to the following categories:
- Sports equipment including balls, rackets, ice, and roller skates.
- Skiing equipment, including racket covers.
- Retail services.
- Cosmetics.
- Fragrances.
- Sports shoes, including track and field shoes.
- Football shoes.
- Jerseys and other sports clothing.
- Shoelaces.
- Sportswear such as tracksuits.
Three stripe logo
The three parallel stripe motif is a recurring feature and distinctive character mark of Adidas branding. The first official trademark to bear this symbol was the black trefoil ”triple leaf” with a white three-stripe design running across it, registered in 1972. The trademark registration pertains to the following categories:
- Goods and services tote bags.
- Specific purpose athletic shoes, general-purpose sports shoes.
- Sportswear that includes suits, shorts, pants, tights, shirts, jerseys, and gloves.
- Shoelaces
- Waterproofing chemical compositions and leather-waterproofing chemicals
- Retail clothing stores.
- Sunglasses and eyeglasses.
- Shoe cleaning preparations, leather cleaning preparations, leather conditioning preparations.
- Shoe deodorizers.
- Leather and leather initiation, including goods made from these materials.
- Wallets, briefcases, and key holders.
Adidas Ultraboost
The Adidas Ultraboost is a popular sports shoe launched by Adidas, promising additional functions and stability, with extra control and a stable and supportive sole that can last for over 250 miles of running.
The ultra boost trademark was first used in 2015 and covered the following category:
- Footwear.
Adidas Solardrive
The Adidas solar drive is a neutral trainer designed to prove comfort and support for daily use; the design of the shoes is inspired by the world of Aerospace engineering and features a boost midsole, a solar propulsion rail, and a blown rubber outsole. The filing date was in 2017 and covered the following category:
- Footwear.
The Brand With The 3 Stripes
An ode to the usual three-stripe trademark, Adidas also trademarked the phrase ”the brand with the three stripes” in 1990. The mark applies to the following categories:
- Sports bags and cross country backpacks.
- Sport and leisurewear: shirts, pants, shirts, T-shirts, jerseys, tights, socks, gloves, jackets, swimwear, sweaters, caps and hats, pull-overs, warm-up suits, rain suits, and ski suits, jumpsuits, boots, slippers, sandals; shoes, boots.
- Sports balls, rackets for tennis, squash, or shuttlecock; ice and rollerskates, skis, and ski equipment; namely, cross-country ski bindings.
Adidas AR Adidas Runners
In 2018 Adidas applied to trademark the AR/Adidas Runner symbol in the following categories:
- Footwear.
- Apparel including tops as clothing, bottoms as clothing, shirts, jackets, pants, and shorts.
.The mark consists of the stylized lettering “AR.” Above the lettering, “AR” is the stylized wording “Adidas,” stacked vertically below a design comprised of three diagonal bars. Below the lettering, “AR” is the stylized wording “ADIDAS RUNNERS.” A single line circle borders all wording and design elements.
Adidas Kestrel Logo
The mark consists of a rectangle with white lines that create the impression of a “5” on its side facing the northeast and a “10” on its side facing the southwest. To the immediate right is the black wording “Kestrel”.
The Adidas Kestrel Logo was first used in 2017 and registered in the same year, for use in the following categories:
- Athletic footwear, cycling shoes, and running shoes.
- Sports clothing.
Climastorm
Adidas Climastorm is part of Adidas’ climate range that promises to keep you cool and comfortable in all conditions.
The Climastorm trademark was registered in 2016 and covered the following category:
- Apparel, namely, shirts, tops, sweatshirts, pullovers, jackets, vests, pants, bottoms.
Adidas Speedfactory
Adidas has launched their speed factories, an innovative new type of manufacturing technology that promises to increase production exponentially while maintaining the same advanced, high-tech product.
”Speedfactory combines the design and development of sporting goods with an automated decentralized and flexible manufacturing process, the flexibility opens the doors for us to be much closer to the market and to where our consumer is, ultimately we are at the forefront of innovating our industry by expanding the boundaries for how, where and when we can manufacture our industry-leading products.” – Herbert Hainer, CEO Of Adidas.
The trademark filing for ”speed factory” took place in 2015 and covers the following categories:
- Sports bags.
- Clothing that includes tops, tracksuits, sweaters, jerseys, jackets, and vests.
- Sports equipment including protective athletic equipment, such as shin guards, knee pads, elbow pads, headgear, and more.
- Retail store services featuring clothing and footwear.
- Online services featuring clothing and footwear.
- Custom manufacture and assembly of sporting equipment.
Adidas Runbase
The Adidas brand is continually expanding, and if anything shows that, it’s the launch of their new Runbase gym, with Runbase Prague acting as a pioneer. The trademark application was submitted in 2015 and covers the following categories:
- Retail store services in the field of running, sports equipment, clothing, footwear, and headwear.
- Organizing and conducting physical fitness training courses and running clinics; providing information relating to the sport of running and running events; providing instructions and equipment in the field of physical fitness; organizing and promoting sporting events and competitions.
- Providing of food and drink.
- Providing public bath and shower facilities.
Summing Up
Adidas is a multibillion-dollar corporation with a lot at stake; part of their futureproofing involves protecting their intellectual property. They’ve done this well with around 200 currently registered trademarks in the US and more in other jurisdictions such as the European Union. Under trademark law, you need to register your trademark with the relevant intellectual property office to be protected.
