Art Basel has reportedly hit Adidas with a trademark lawsuit, in regards to the special edition Adidas EQT Support ADV 91-16 that released in limited quantities at Art Basel last Fall.
According to the The Fashion Law, the lawsuit states Adidas took part in the “willful distribution of at least 1,000 pairs of sneakers bearing an unauthorized reproduction of Plaintiffs’ registered and incontestable ART BASEL® trademark.”
Art Basel claims that adidas’ “placement of the ART BASEL mark on the Sneakers, hang tags and boxes, which each also bear [adidas’] marks, deliberately misrepresents an association, show partnership, sponsorship or other affiliation between [Art Basel] and Adidas and misrepresents the origin of the Sneakers.”
As it turns out, Adidas never actually had permission to use the trademarked Art Basel name on the shoe, and the event organizers are filing suit as a result. The organizers also allege that its brand underwent “suffering irreparable and indivisible injury and harm as a result of [adidas’s] unauthorized and wrongful use of the ART BASEL mark.”
The limited edition shoes featured Art Basel-specific tongue tag branding,and only 1,000 pairs were made, which were later given out for free at a separate event.
You can take a look at the kicks in question in the gallery above.
