人人熟知的阿迪达斯 “三道杠”标识,被欧盟法院判决为无效商标。理由是该商标缺乏特色......这难道是要换标志的意思?

图片来源:视觉中国

 

英文原文音频:

The European Union General Court on Wednesday ruled against Adidas' claim that its famous three stripes, applied in any direction, deserve trademark protection. 

欧盟普通法院周三判阿迪达斯败诉。阿迪达斯称其著名的任意方向的三条杠应受法律保护。

The ruling dealt a blow to a sports apparel giant that famously polices other companies and designers for any possible infringement on its logo.

这项判决对阿迪达斯造成了严重的打击。这家运动服饰巨头出了名地监督其他公司和设计师,防止任何一点可能侵犯其logo的行为。

The high court judgment upheld a 2016 decision from the European Union Intellectual Property Office, which dismissed Adidas' 2014 trademark application after determining the logo was "devoid of any distinctive character."

高等法院维持了2016年欧盟知识产权局的决定,也就是在决定商标“缺乏任何独特性”后,驳回了阿迪达斯2014年的商标申请。

Similarly, the General Court said the German company could not prove that the stripes had a distinctive enough character throughout the 28-nation trade bloc. "The mark is not a pattern mark composed of a series of regularly repetitive elements, but an ordinary figurative mark," the court said in a statement. 

类似的,普通法院称这家德国公司无法证明三条杠在28国贸易集团中具有足够的独特性。“这个标志不是由一系列规律的重复元素构成的图案,而是普通的形象标志。”法院在一项声明中说道。

Adidas said it is disappointed in the ruling and is considering its next options.

阿迪达斯称其对判决十分失望,正在考虑下一步选择。

It's a rare loss for the sports apparel company, which has earned a tough reputation among competitors and fashion designers for aggressively litigating against anyone who has used stripes in their collections.

对于这家运动服饰公司来说,败诉是很罕见的。阿迪达斯在竞争对手和服装设计师中以强硬著称,对任何在服装中使用条纹的人提起诉讼。

New York designer Thom Browne switched the number of stripes from three to four in his signature line of grey suits after he was sued by the sportswear company. 

在受到这家运动服饰公司起诉后,纽约设计师汤姆·布朗将他经典灰色西服上的三条杠改成了四条。

Adidas also exchanged blows with footwear brand Skechers. After partially winning a lawsuit in May 2018 over a Stan Smith tennis shoe lookalike, Adidas continued to notify Skechers over trademark violations throughout the year, leading Skechers to file acountersuit in late 2018, reported the Fashion Law website.

阿迪达斯也和鞋类品牌斯凯奇互殴过。在2018年5月,阿迪达斯在Stan Smith网球鞋仿品的诉讼中部分胜诉,之后一整年阿迪达斯又继续警告斯凯奇侵犯商标权。这使得斯凯奇在2018年年末提出反诉,时装法网站报道说。

 

今日语言点

 

1)devoid adj. 缺乏,没有

常见用法:devoid of sth. 没有…的;缺乏…的

I have never looked on a face that was so devoid of feeling.

我从没见过如此面无表情的脸。

She is devoid of all pretence.

她一点也不做作。

 

2)figurative adj.比喻的;象征的

in a figurative sense 从比喻意义上来说

figurative painting(写实画)&  abstract painting(抽象画) 

文中figurative mark,指图形商标。

 
3)countersuit 反诉

counter-有反作用力的意味:

比如counteract,v. 抵消;中和

比如counterattack,v. 反击

又比如counteroffer,n. 买方还价