Adidas Sues Australian Brand White Fox Over Four-Stripe Design

German sportswear company Adidas has initiated legal proceedings against Australian clothing retailer White Fox in Federal Court, alleging that the online brand's four-striped garments infringe on its signature three-stripe trademark.

Adidas claims it reached out to the Sydney-founded label multiple times starting in March to request that it cease marketing and distributing the four-striped items. After White Fox continued sales, Adidas filed a lawsuit seeking an injunction against the products along with a handover of profits generated from them, including interest and legal costs.

During the initial court appearance, Adidas’s barrister Patrick Flynn SC stated: “There’s an intention to trade off our reputation”.

Flynn noted that the company has held the trademark for its three-stripe design in Australia since 1957 and highlighted a 2013 legal victory where Adidas successfully sued another retailer over four-striped footwear, saying: “This is a pretty simple matter”.

Adidas submitted evidence featuring direct product comparisons of tracksuits, lounge shorts, and socks, alongside images of White Fox advertisements across buses and bus stops.

Court documents allege that a June 2025 online listing pictured a model wearing White Fox socks alongside authentic Adidas footwear. Adidas claimed that shortly after court papers were filed in September, the promotional images were digitally edited to remove one stripe from the shoes, before all three stripes were erased a week later.

The German brand expressed concern that consumers could assume an official partnership or endorsement exists between the companies, arguing that White Fox was trying to draw a mental link in buyers' minds or was at least "sailing close to the wind".

Attorneys representing White Fox denied any trademark breach during the hearing. While a formal defense has not yet been filed, White Fox’s barrister Ed Heerey KC indicated the company will argue the four stripes serve a purely decorative function rather than acting as a trademark indicator.

Heerey pointed out that several other popular retail labels including Glassons, Cotton On, Sportscraft, Princess Polly, and Shein sell apparel featuring similar decorative striping, adding:

“Obviously Adidas has a reputation…Their own slogan is that it’s the brand with three stripes. Emphasis on the three.”

Defense attorneys plan to challenge whether a four-stripe pattern on casual clothing is deceptively similar enough to mislead shoppers, noting that past court rulings centered primarily on footwear branding practices.

Founded in 2013 by Georgia and Daniel Contos alongside Daniel’s mother Melina Maceri, White Fox has grown significantly through social media marketing, expanding into the UK and US markets. The privately held retailer reported AU$542 million (£286 million / $377 million) in revenue for the 12 months ending June 2025.

By comparison, Adidas reported €24.8 billion ($28 billion) in revenue for 2025. The brand regularly acts to defend its iconic logo globally, though it recently lost separate trademark disputes against luxury fashion house Thom Browne across the US, UK, and Germany.

Justice Ian Jackman set the trial to run for three to four days in early 2027.