Adidas hits back after ruling on stripes

[Herbie von Smalls]

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Adidas is suing the International Tennis Federation and the

organisers of all four Grand Slam events after the bodies banned the

German sporting goods company from putting its iconic three-stripe

design on players' clothing.

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The ban, which will take effect from the first day of this year's

Wimbledon Championships in June, is a further blow to Adidas after it

faced restrictions on the use of the three stripes at the Summer and

Winter Olympics.

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The use of the three stripes down the arms and legs of athletes is an

important part of Adidas' marketing drive and the bans have led it to

consider transferring sponsorship money to sports such as football

that still permit them.

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The company currently sponsors tennis players Andre Agassi, Tim

Henman and Justine Henin-Hardenne, among others.

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The bans follow a campaign against Adidas ledby US rivals Nike

andPuma. Horst Widmann, vice-president of Puma and also of the World

Federation of the Sporting Goods Industry, said the companies would

now try to persuade athletics' federations to follow suit.

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"This is the breakthrough. We want to bring all sporting federations

to this result. We went for tennis first after the Olympics because

it is so important for Nike," he told the Financial Times.

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But Adidas itself has been lobbying the federations to explicitly

permit the use of the three stripes on sleeves. It believes no other

sports will follow suit with bans of their own, largely because many

of them are sponsored by Adidas.

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Clothing manufacturers are allowed to place a logo on players'

clothing, normally on the chest, and of a regulated size. But Adidas

has for several decades put its three stripes on the sleeves and

legs, arguing that they are not a logo but a design element. Rivals

have complained that the three stripes are a registered trademark and

as such a logo, meaning they should be banned.

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The ITF, which organises the Davis and Federation Cups between

countries, and the four Grand Slams - the Australian, French and US

opens and the Wimbledon tournament - have agreed to restrict logos to

26cm [squared] each on the shirt and shorts, about the size of a

badge, following the campaign by Adidas' rivals.

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The three stripes can cover up to 700cm [squared] on an athletics

outfit.

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Adidas said yesterday that it had filed a lawsuit at the High Court

in London, alleging that the ITF had infringed its European

"competition rights".

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It is seeking an injunction to stop the ban from coming into force

before Wimbledon starts in June.

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Wimbledon said it was "saddened" by the lawsuit. It said: "We believe

it right to apply the rules impartially to all . . . Adidas cannot be

allowed a privileged position to enhance their own commercial

advantage."

[Sir Tokyo Sexwale]

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[R A Softlad]

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