Adidas sues Australian fashion brand White Fox Boutique

Adidas has filed a lawsuit against the Sydney-based fashion label White Fox Boutique in the Federal Court of Australia. The German sportswear giant alleges that the company’s use of four parallel stripes on apparel, such as tracksuits and shorts, is too similar to its iconic three-stripe trademark and could mislead consumers.

Adidas claims that White Fox has been selling these items since early 2026. To build its case, Adidas representatives reportedly purchased the disputed products and photographed them alongside original Adidas footwear in advertisements across Sydney to demonstrate potential consumer confusion. The lawsuit seeks an injunction against the production and sale of the items, as well as damages and the surrender of profits earned from the sales.

White Fox Boutique, which reports annual revenues of 542 million Australian dollars across Australia and the US, has rejected the allegations. The company argues that the four stripes serve a purely decorative function rather than a trademark purpose. Defense lawyers also noted that other fashion retailers, such as Shein, Princess Polly, and Glassons, use similar designs, and argued that Adidas is specifically defined by three stripes, not four. The main trial is scheduled to begin in early 2027.