Adidas Sues White Fox Over Four-Stripe Clothing Design

Adidas has sued Australian fashion label White Fox Boutique, alleging that its clothing featuring four parallel stripes is deceptively similar to the German sportswear brand’s trademarked three-stripe design.

The sportswear giant claims it repeatedly asked White Fox to stop selling and advertising the disputed clothing from March, but the Sydney-based retailer continued to do so.

White Fox, an online fast-fashion retailer popular with teenagers and young adults in Australia, the UK and the US, has built its profile through billboards, bus advertisements and influencer marketing.

At a Federal Court hearing on Friday, White Fox’s lawyers denied that the company had breached Adidas’s trademark rights. The retailer has not yet filed a formal defence.

Adidas alleges that White Fox’s use of four parallel stripes on its clothing infringes its trademark. In its written statement of claim, the company said its three-stripe design has a “substantial and valuable reputation” in Australia, where it has held trademark protection since 1957.

Adidas’s lawyers told the court that White Fox intended to benefit from the sportswear brand’s reputation by selling and promoting the disputed designs.

White Fox’s legal team, meanwhile, indicated that it would argue that similar decorative stripes appear on clothing sold by other Australian retailers, including Cotton On, Sportscraft and Glassons.

The dispute centres on whether White Fox’s four-stripe designs are sufficiently similar to Adidas’s registered trademarks to constitute infringement under Australian law.

Adidas has also raised concerns about White Fox’s advertising, which it says could create the impression that the two brands are associated or that Adidas has approved White Fox’s products.

The case follows Adidas’s successful legal action in Australia in 2013 against Pacific Brands over footwear featuring four stripes. However, the outcome of that case does not determine the result of the current dispute, which concerns White Fox’s clothing and advertising.

White Fox’s position is that the stripes are decorative rather than a trademark infringement. The court will need to consider the parties’ arguments and the relevant evidence before reaching a decision.

A trial lasting three to four days is expected to take place in early 2027, according to the court proceedings.