Adidas sued Forever 21 over clothing designs that it alleged imitated Adidas’s distinctive Three Stripes trademark. The dispute centered on parallel stripes used on apparel, a visual feature strongly associated with Adidas sportswear.
Adidas’s trademark portfolio covers multiple versions of its Three-Stripe Mark. Its legal argument was not simply that stripes could never appear on clothing; rather, it claimed that Forever 21’s particular designs were confusingly similar enough that shoppers might associate them with Adidas or believe the products were connected.
The controversy illustrates why fashion brands aggressively protect recurring visual motifs. A small design element can function as a trademark when consumers use it to identify the source of goods. Adidas has repeatedly litigated stripe-related designs involving other apparel companies, making the Three Stripes one of the most recognizable—and frequently challenged—marks in sportswear.
The case is sometimes confused with lawsuits involving Puma or Nike, but Adidas is the company historically associated with the Three Stripes claim against Forever 21. The dispute involved trademark confusion and brand identity, not an allegation that Forever 21 copied an entire Adidas product line.