Judge Partly Dismisses Adidas Lawsuit Over Alleged Knockoff Soccer Jerseys Ahead of World Cup

A federal judge in Oregon partly dismissed Adidas’s trademark infringement and counterfeiting claims against Hall of Fame Sports Memorabilia Inc., finding the sportswear company did not clearly tie alleged knockoff Real Madrid and Argentina soccer jerseys to specific federal trademark registrations.

U.S. District Judge Karin J. Immergut’s May 18 order allowed parts of the case to move forward but dismissed two claims brought under Section 1114 of the Lanham Act with leave to amend. The ruling does not reject Adidas’s Three-Stripe branding rights or end the lawsuit.

The decision came less than a month before the 2026 FIFA World Cup was scheduled to begin on June 11. The timing places the dispute near a major soccer event involving national teams, club fans, and merchandise tied to the sport.

Adidas America Inc. and Adidas AG sued Hall of Fame in 2024, alleging the New Jersey retailer sold unauthorized jerseys bearing imitations of Adidas’s Three-Stripe branding and designs associated with Real Madrid and Argentina. The complaint claims the jerseys were likely to mislead shoppers into believing the products were made, approved, or sponsored by Adidas.

As one of the world’s largest sportswear manufacturers, with products spanning athletic footwear, apparel, and team uniforms, Adidas has long used its Three-Stripe branding across sports products, making the stripe design a central part of its identity in the marketplace.

The Hall of Fame asked the court to dismiss parts of the lawsuit. The company argued that Adidas referred generally to its Three-Stripe Mark but did not identify which registered trademarks supported its federal infringement and counterfeiting claims. Hall of Fame also challenged Adidas’s trade dress and dilution claims, but the court allowed those claims to continue.

The ruling turns on Section 1114 of the Lanham Act, a federal trademark law that protects registered marks. A registered trademark is a mark formally protected through the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. A company bringing a claim under that section must identify the registered mark it says was infringed and connect that registration to the accused goods.

Adidas described its Three-Stripe Mark as a single branding device tied to several registrations. The court found that the description was not specific enough as pleaded. Immergut adopted a magistrate judge’s finding that Adidas may have viable Section 1114 claims, but the complaint did not connect the alleged jersey copies to particular registered marks.

The same issue affected the counterfeiting claim. Federal trademark law generally treats a counterfeit mark as one that is identical to, or nearly indistinguishable from, a registered mark used on the same type of goods. The court found Adidas had not pleaded enough detail to show which registrations matched the alleged counterfeit jerseys.

The court allowed Adidas’s trade dress claims to move forward. Trade dress protects the overall appearance of a product when that look identifies the company behind it. Apparel disputes often involve combinations of visual features, including stripe placement, jersey layout, colors, and graphics, rather than a single word or logo.

Adidas claims the Real Madrid and Argentina jersey designs contain protectable trade dress because their combined features signal Adidas to consumers. The Hall of Fame argued the allegations were too broad and relied partly on functional elements, including jersey colors, player names, and numbers. The court found Adidas had pleaded enough at this stage to proceed with those claims.

The court also declined to dismiss Adidas’s trademark dilution and unfair competition claims. Dilution focuses on alleged harm to the strength or reputation of a famous mark, rather than only on whether shoppers believed two products came from the same source. Adidas claims Hall of Fame’s alleged use of similar stripe designs weakened or harmed the public’s association between the Three-Stripe mark and Adidas.

Adidas seeks an injunction, damages, Hall of Fame’s profits, enhanced damages, attorneys’ fees, and other relief. The court dismissed the Section 1114 trademark infringement and counterfeiting claims with leave to amend and denied Hall of Fame’s motion to dismiss the remaining claims.