By Anthony Shevlin 
 

Adidas AG (ADS.XE) expressed disappointment with a European court's ruling on Wednesday that its three-stripe trademark was invalid, but the German sporting-goods company said the ruling only affected one particular execution of the three-stripe mark.

The EU's General Court upheld an annulment decision by the European Union Intellectual Property Office which claimed the mark was devoid of any distinctive character, both inherent and acquired through use.

"The General Court notes that the mark is not a pattern mark composed of a series of regularly repetitive elements, but an ordinary figurative mark," the court said.

The court said other forms of use which don't respect the other essential characteristics of the mark such as its color can't be taken into account.

"Therefore, EUIPO was correct to dismiss numerous pieces of evidence produced by Adidas on the grounds that they concern other signs such as, in particular, signs for which the color scheme had been reversed," said the court.

Adidas said the decision doesn't impact the broad scope of protection that it has on its three-stripe mark in various forms in Europe.

"Whilst we are disappointed with the decision, we are further evaluating it and are welcoming the useful guidance that the court will give us for protecting our three-stripe mark applied to our products in whichever direction in the future," Adidas said.

Write to Anthony Shevlin at anthony.shevlin@dowjones.com; @anthony_shevlin

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

June 19, 2019 05:53 ET (09:53 GMT)