Photo Credit: thefashionlaw.com
Metadata tags are keywords used in Google searches to direct the user to webpages one might be searching for.
In Adidas v. Skechers, Skechers was found to have used metadata tags on its website to direct consumers searching for the shoes “Adidas Stan Smith,” to Skechers’s page, for a replica version of the shoe. The court found that the Stan Smith mark had acquired secondary meaning protection against Skechers, and had intended to confuse consumers by using the metadata tags to bring them to their site.
“Using another’s trademark in one’s metatags is much like posting a sign with another’s trademark in front of one’s store.” Brookfield Communications, Inc. v. W. Coast Entertainment Corp., 174 F. 3d 1036, 1064 (9th Cir. 1999).
The court further held that Adidas held a trade dress claim, covering the appearance of the Stan Smith design, including the three perforated stripes on the body of the shoe, the heel tab, and “a particularly flat sole.”
The court granted Adidas a preliminary injunction.
Is this good competition or just plain infringement?
Photo Credit: https://www.thefashionlaw.com/home/adidas-sues-skechers-for-trademark-infringement