The world's second-biggest sporting-goods maker may collect at least $326 million in damages, the equivalent of $1.60 a share, if a jury agrees Wal-Mart copied Adidas's three-stripe sneakers by selling shoes with two- and four-stripe motifs as Payless did.[Note: Payless had to pay Adidas $304 million in May for infringement.]Never let a little thing like copyright infringement stand in the way of profit taking, eh, Wal-Mart? Say goodbye to those profits.
Of course, $326 million is just a couple of days worth of revenue for the mega-giant corporation. But I would imagine shareholders are pretty damned pissed off about it nonetheless.
The fact that this is the third go-around where Wal-Mart's copied Adidas' design is a pretty good indicator of the mentality of the company and that they should pay a rather large sum in penalty.
I'm sure the Wal-Mart knockoffs just looked like Adidas and were made of crappy bottom end materials by sweatshop labor overseas, most likely in China. Heck, the shoes should probably be tested for lead.
Great news for Adidas, their brand security and future. Bad news for Wal-Mart's knock-off business model.