Addleshaws serves up an ace with High Court injunction win for Adidas
Addleshaws helps sports company win injunction against dress code rules in high-profile competition case
June 14, 2006 at 08:03 PM
3 minute read
Addleshaw Goddard has scored a set point against national sports law rival Hammonds after advising sportswear giant Adidas on its High Court battle over the rights to use its three-stripe logo at major tennis events.
Addleshaws hit the headlines last week after helping Adidas obtain a High Court injunction suspending dress code regulations that would have barred the use of its famous logo in next month's Wimbledon tennis championships.
The row centres on changes to dress code rules of the body organising tennis' top tournaments, the Grand Slam Committee (GSC), which categorised the design as a logo and required it to be reduced to a four square inch area.
The injunction effectively suspended the code of the GSC and the governing body, the International Tennis Federation (ITF), pending a full trial later this year in which Adidas is set to argue that the stance of the tennis establishment is a breach of competition law.
Addleshaws' team was led by partners Michele Boote (TMT) and Guy Leigh (competition) with the firm instructing Monckton Chambers' Peter Roth QC and Julian Gregory and Kelyn Bacon of Brick Court Chambers.
The case also saw a heavyweight line up of advisers for the six defendants, with Hammonds corporate partner Alasdair Bell and solicitor Stephen Sampson advising the ITF.
Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton's Romano Subiotto and Fouzia Javaid advised the Lawn Tennis Association, the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club and the Lawn Tennis Association of Australia.
Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom advised the US Tennis Association led by US partner Jeff Mishkin.
Meanwhile, Federation Fran-caise de Tennis was advised by Jamie Singer of sports boutique Onside Law.
At the hearing, Vice chancellor Lord Justice Morritt found that Adidas should be granted the injunction having shown "a real prospect of success" in its claim, which will be heard in a trial set for October.
The case is being watched closely by lawyers given the use of competition issues to challenge the regulation of a sport.
Leigh told Legal Week: "This shows the British courts are prepared to grant an injunction in the application of competition law in a way they would not have five years ago."
A sports specialist at a rival firm commented: "The test for granting an injunction is whether damages could be recovered for any loss and, in this case, it seemed damages would be appropriate."
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