Adidas Am., Inc. v. Skechers USA, Inc.

• Decision Date: 12 February 2016
• Docket Number: No. 3:15-cv-01741-HZ,3:15-cv-01741-HZ
• Citation: 149 F.Supp.3d 1222
• Parties: Adidas America, Inc., a Delaware Corporation; Adidas AG, a foreign entity; and Adidas International Marketing B.V., a foreign entity, Plaintiffs, v. Skechers USA, Inc., a Delaware corporation, Defendant.
• Court: U.S. District Court — District of Oregon

149 F.Supp.3d 1222

Adidas America, Inc., a Delaware Corporation; Adidas AG, a foreign entity; and Adidas International Marketing B.V., a foreign entity, Plaintiffs,

v.Skechers USA, Inc., a Delaware corporation, Defendant.

No. 3:15-cv-01741-HZ

United States District Court, D. Oregon.

Signed February 12, 2016

Charles H. Hooker, III, R. Charles Henn, Jr., Kilpatrick Townsend & Stockton, LLP, 1100 Peachtree St., Ste. 2800, Atlanta, GA 30309, Stephen M. Feldman, Perkins Coie, LLP, 1120 NW Couch St., 10th Floor, Portland, OR 97209, Attorneys for Plaintiff

Daniel M. Petrocelli, Jeffrey A. Barker, O'Melveny & Myers LLP, 1999 Avenue of the Stars, Los Angeles, CA 90067, Jordan Raphael, Mark A. Samuels, O'Melveny & Myers LLP, 400 So. Hope St., Los Angeles, CA 90071, Kenneth R. Davis, II, Parna A. Mehrbani, Lane Powell, PC, 601 SW Second Ave., Ste. 2100, Portland, OR 97204, Attorneys for Defendants

OPINION & ORDER

HERNÁNDEZ, District Judge

Plaintiff adidas makes shoes. Defendant Skechers also makes shoes. adidas asks the Court to prevent Skechers from selling three different shoes which adidas claims are confusingly similar to adidas's registered trademarks and protectable trade dress. The Court finds adidas is likely to succeed in establishing its right to enforce the marks and trade dress asserted here, including the unregistered Stan Smith trade dress. adidas is also likely to succeed in showing that the Skechers shoes infringe adidas's marks and trade dress because the Skechers shoes are likely to cause consumer confusion. Finally, adidas has produced sufficient evidence of irreparable harm and the other elements required to warrant injunctive relief, and therefore, adidas's motion for a preliminary injunction is granted.

BACKGROUND

adidas is one of the world's leading designers and producers of athletic footwear, apparel, and sporting equipment. Murphy Decl. ¶ 8, ECF 7. adidas began using its “Three-Stripe” logo on athletic shoes sold in the United States in the 1950s, and by the late 1960s, the company had expanded its use of the Three-Stripe mark to apparel and other merchandise. Murphy Decl. ¶ 8. The “Brand with the Three Stripes” holds numerous United States trademarks, including incontestable registrations for its “Three-Stripe” mark in various forms, and for its “Supernova” mark, which adidas uses in connection with a line of running shoes and apparel. Vanderhoff Decl. ¶¶ 3–7, ECF 9; Murphy Decl. ¶¶ 18–19.

Although its design has changed slightly over the years, the Three-Stripe mark is widely visible and well-known both on and off the playing field. adidas has sponsored (and splashed its logo across) the World Cup and the Boston Marathon, college sports teams including UCLA and the University of Nebraska, superstar athletes such as Lionel Messi, David Beckham, Aaron Rodgers, and the Portland Trail Blazer's own Damian Lilliard, and pop culture icons like Katy Perry. Murphy Decl. ¶¶ 12–13. All told, adidas spends over $38 million annually in global advertising and promotion, and annual sales of products bearing the Three-Stripe mark in the United States runs into the hundreds of millions. Murphy Decl. ¶¶ 9–10.

In the early 1970s, adidas introduced a new tennis sneaker—a sleek, white leather low-top, with rows of perforations in the shape of the familiar Three-Stripe mark enclosed by a distinctive stitching pattern, a flat white outsole, and a mustache-shaped heel patch in a bright, kelly green. Beaty Decl. ¶¶ 8–9, ECF 8. In 1973, adidas named the shoe after Stan Smith, an American tennis player who, at the time, was ranked number one in the world and had won major victories in the 1968 U.S. Open and 1970 Australian Open. Beaty Decl. ¶ 10. Since then, the Stan Smith moved from the tennis court to the street and beyond, as the shoe's clean aesthetic won favor among tastemakers, trendsetters, and consumers around the world. An array of athletes, musicians, artists, and celebrities, have donned the Stan Smith including John Lennon, the Rolling Stones, the late David Bowie, Marc Jacobs, David Beckham, Pharrell Williams, Will Arnett, Andy Murray, Kayne West, and many more. Beaty Decl. ¶ 13. adidas claims to have sold more than 40 million pairs of Stan Smiths worldwide since its introduction. Beaty Decl. ¶ 12. Recent media pieces have dubbed the Stan Smith an “icon,” a “classic of design,” the “ultimate fashion shoe,” and even “The Greatest Sneaker of All Time.” Beaty Decl. Ex. B at 1, ECF 8-2; Beaty Decl. Ex. C at 24, 27, 30, ECF 8-3.

Skechers is an American-based footwear company that designs, develops, and markets footwear for men, women, and children. Kartalis Decl. ¶¶ 1–3, ECF 52. Skechers is the second largest footwear company in the United States, behind Nike. Kartalis Decl. ¶ 3. Skechers sells its shoes through a network of company-owned and -operated retail stores, along with department and specialty stores across the United States and around the world. Kartalis. Decl. ¶ 4. To distinguish itself in the highly competitive and trend-driven footwear industry, Skechers adopted a “serial branding strategy,” meaning it “heavily and consistently brands its shoes, packaging, and retail stores with the SKECHERS trademark.” Kartalis Decl. ¶¶ 5–6. Part of Skechers' strategy includes a process it calls “Skecherizing,” whereby “its designers transform market trends into unique footwear products ... prominently featuring Skechers' famous marks, brands, and logos ....” Kartalis Decl. ¶ 8.

Occasionally, this “Skecherizing” process fails, at least in part, in its aim to create unique footwear products. Since at least the mid-1990s, Skechers and adidas have regularly clashed about certain Skechers shoes with designs invoking adidas's Three-Stripe mark. In 1995, these two competitors settled a lawsuit over shoe designs with an agreement in which Skechers acknowledged adidas's rights in the Three-Stripe mark and agreed not to infringe those rights. Vanderhoff Decl. ¶ 8. Thus began an ongoing battle: at least six times since then, adidas found Skechers shoes it believed to be infringing, and either sued Skechers or demanded in writing that Skechers stop selling the shoes. Each time, the parties settled the dispute and Skechers agreed to stop selling the challenged footwear. See Vanderhoff Decl. ¶¶ 8–14. The peace brokered through those agreements sometimes lasted a few years, but sometimes only a few months; the parties entered the latest agreement in April of 2013. Vanderhoff Decl. ¶ 14.

Which brings the Court to the present suit and motion. adidas has identified three current Skechers shoes that adidas believes bear confusingly similar imitations of adidas's trademarks and trade dress. The first is Skechers Relaxed Fit Cross Court TR, which is depicted below alongside an adidas shoe bearing the Three-Stripe mark:

Skechers Relaxed Fit Cross Court TR

adidas Ultra Boost with the Three-Stripe Mark

Vanderhoff Decl. ¶ 18; Pl. Mot. at 4. adidas alleges that this Skechers shoe uses a “knock off” of adidas's famous Three-Stripe mark. Pl. Mot. at 24.

The second allegedly infringing shoe, the Skechers Relaxed Fist Supernova shoe, is depicted below:

Vanderhoff Decl. Ex. I, ECF 9-9. adidas asserts that Skechers has “misappropriated adidas's well-known and federally registered Supernova mark,” which adidas uses in connection with athletic shoes and apparel. Pl. Mot. at 9 (some capitalization omitted).

Finally, adidas alleges that the Skechers Onix infringes the adidas Stan Smith shoe:

Skechers Onix

adidas Stan Smith Vanderhoff Decl. ¶ 16; Pl. Mot. at 3. adidas contends that the Skechers Onix “blatantly reproduces adidas's famous and distinctive Stan Smith trade dress” including its shape, color, stitching, perforations, outsole, and heel patch. Pl. Mot. at 25 (some capitalization omitted).

adidas filed suit against Skechers in September of 2015 and immediately moved for a preliminary injunction. adidas contends that Skechers “is selling footwear in clear violation of adidas's incontestable rights in and to its Stan Smith trade dress ..., Three-Stripe trademark ..., and Supernova trademark,” and “is doing so in a blatant, bad faith attempt to trade on adidas's goodwill and to profit wrongfully from consumer's confusion.” Pl. Mot. at 1 (some capitalization omitted). adidas asks the Court to enter an injunction “preliminarily restraining Skechers from manufacturing, distributing, advertising, selling, or offering for sale any footwear (a) that is confusingly similar to adidas's Stan Smith trade dress, (b) bearing stripes in a manner that is confusingly similar to adidas's Three-Stripe mark, or (c) under adidas's Supernova mark.” Pl. Mot. at 1–2 (some capitalization omitted).

STANDARDS

A preliminary injunction is an “extraordinary remedy that may only be awarded upon a clear showing that the plaintiff is entitled to such relief.” Winter v. Natural Resources Defense Council , 555 U.S. 7, 22, 129 S.Ct. 365, 172 L.Ed.2d 249 (2008)

. The party seeking the injunction must establish that it is likely to succeed on the merits, that it is likely to suffer irreparable harm in the absence of preliminary relief, that the balance of equities tips in its favor, and that an injunction is in the public interest. Id. at 20, 129 S.Ct. 365. A court can only issue an injunction if the plaintiff carries its burden of persuasion by a “clear showing” of the four required elements. Lopez v. Brewer , 680 F.3d 1068, 1072 (9th Cir.2012). Because an injunction is an equitable remedy, the court may apply a sliding test, under which “the elements of the preliminary injunction test are balanced, so that a stronger showing of one element may offset a weaker showing of another.” All. for the Wild Rockies v. Cottrell , 632 F.3d 1127, 1131 (9th Cir.2011).

DISCUSSION

1) Skechers' Motions to Strike

Before analyzing the merits of the motion for a preliminary injunction, the Court briefly addresses Skechers' motions to strike. First, Skechers moved to strike portions of a declaration submitted by Mr....