Adidas, based in Herzogenaurach, Germany, sued Wal-Mart Stores Inc. in 2005, accusing the world's biggest retailer of infringing its shoe designs. That case is scheduled to go to trial in October in Portland. Adidas settled its trademark- infringement lawsuit against Sears Holdings Corp.'s Kmart unit, just two days after the German apparel maker was awarded $304.6 million in a similar case over stripes on shoes.

Notice of the settlement was filed yesterday in federal court in Portland, Oregon, and a trial scheduled for July was canceled. Kmart was accused of copying Adidas's three-stripe design motif by selling athletic shoes with sets of two and four stripes. Details of the accord weren't available.

``You can be assured that Adidas wouldn't settle any case pursuant to terms where someone could produce athletic shoes with two parallel stripes; four stripes even more so,'' Jerre Swann, a lawyer for Adidas with the firm Kilpatrick Stockton in Atlanta, said today in a phone interview.

In the current Adidas war on stripes, a Kansas shoe company were fined by a federal jury for trademark violation of the adidas three-stripe design. Adidas AG earlier this week won a $305 million award from a federal jury in Oregon for trademark violation of its three-stripe design by the company that operates the Payless and Stride Rite shoe-store chains. The verdict is unusually high for a trademark case, lawyers say.

"It is very satisfying for the three stripes to be recognized as a strong trademark after the court heard detailed evidence over more than three weeks," an Adidas spokeswoman said in an email. The German company is the world's second-largest sporting-goods maker by sales after Nike Inc.

A few months back Footballshirtculture.com were invited by 180Amsterdam to talk about the Adi dassler workshop commercial that was released at the time and we made our second trip up to Amsterdam last week to visit the screening of their latest highly rated Adidas campaign "DREAM BIG" in a trendy cinema in Amsterdam.

Read more and watch the video!

The world’s biggest football stars meet the world’s smallest football teams, in adidas’ new football campaign for 2008, a film project called "Dream Big".

Rather than focusing on the big football superpowers for UEFA EURO 2008™, adidas instead shifts the attention to lesser known football teams with the notion that anyone can "Dream Big", no matter what their ranking. Kaká, Messi, Gerrard and Beckham are amongst the all-star group of footballers that were sent out on missions to Andorra, San Marino and the Isles of Scilly (UK) to inspire and coach local teams. The results celebrate the true meaning of ‘Impossible is Nothing’.

A small number of young boys and girls were selected by 180, adidas’ advertising agency, in each of the three locations to take part in what they thought was a straightforward documentary about football - and were totally unaware of the star players’ involvement. This surprise element led to some extraordinarily charming and real moments between players and kids.

Competition between two sports goods giants, Nike and Adidas, has moved to a different arena – a Shanghai court. Nike is suing its German competitor, and Chinese football star Zheng Zhi.

At a hearing held Tuesday, Nike Sports (China) Co Ltd told Shanghai No 1 Intermediate People's Court that Adidas and Zheng --captain of the Chinese football team and a midfield player with England's Charlton Athletic -- had harmed its interests, English-language China Daily reported Wednesday.

Nike said Zheng was seduced by Adidas who promised more money and wore Adidas products and attended its publicity events while working as a brand ambassador for Nike.

It is seeking eight million yuan (1.14 million U.S. dollars) in compensation from the two.

But the accused parties said Nike broke its contract with Zheng due to nonpayment.

"Nike had withdrawn a similar suit accusing Adidas of unfair competition for lack of evidence," Jiang Xian, the attorney of the28-year-old football player, was quoted as saying.

On July 1, 2003, Nike signed a contract with Zheng in a bid to build its image in China. The contract, which was to expire at the end of last year, said Zheng should wear Nike products on any public occasion and attend publicity events of Nike.

Adidas can prevent other companies using two stripes on the shoulders of their shirts, even though Adidas branding has three stripes.

The European Court of Justice ruled that "the mere fact that the relevant section of the public establishes a link between the two is sufficient". The case was brought in the Netherlands by Adidas against C&A, H&M, Marca Mode and Vendex.

The long history and reputation of Adidas appears to have been a factor. Lawyers say that other manufacturers may struggle to take advantage of this ruling, because few types of branding have as long a history and reputation as Adidas' three stripes.

Shares in German sports goods maker Adidas rose as much as 3 percent on Monday, with traders citing market talk of takeover interest from U.S. rival Nike. Rumours say the company might be mulling a takeover bid for German rival Adidas, but a spokesman for Nike declined to comment. He said the company does not comment on market rumours.

'The rumour is a rehashed older rumour and I really don't think there is much to it,' a Frankfurt-based trader said earlier today, after shares of Adidas rose in reaction to the speculation.

Pony International announced the re-launch of the famous footwear company once known for iconic performance and creativity with "Back In the Game," a clever marketing campaign designed to return the once category leader back to prominence.

"The Pony brand has always been a classic. From its incubation on the streets of New York to the way it once ran the floors of professional arenas. We're eager to show the world that Pony is once again 'Back In the Game,' commented Pony CEO Kevin Wulff. "From the form and function upgrades we've made to our products, to our new marketing campaign, we are now delivering on all cylinders."

Born in Brooklyn in 1972, Pony quickly became the premier sports brand of the 70's and 80's with legendary pitchmen such as Muhammad Ali, Dan Marino, Reggie Jackson and Pele.