Naperville Lawyer Claims Adidas Ripped Off Slogan

By Anna Deem in News on Oct 11, 2009 7:15PM

Naperville attorney W. Brand Bobosky is claiming that he came up with "We Not Me" a recent ad campaign used by Adidas. Bobosky is suing the sportswear company for using his copyrighted slogan in their campaign. The multimillion-dollar advertisements featured NBA star Kevin Garnett of the Boston Celtics. Bobosky told the Chicago Sun Times that he tried to negotiate a licensing agreement with Adidas after their advertising campaign launched. "They stonewalled me for 11 months" he said.

Last week, Bobosky and his attorney, Stephen Drinnon, filed a copyright-infringement and trademark lawsuit in U.S. District Court in Dallas, seeking unspecified damages from Adidas AG, Garnett, and four other defendants. Bobosky revealed to the Sun Times that the "We Not Me" slogan "just kind of came to me" around June 2000 when he was inspired by his local Rotary Club's motto, "Service Above Self," after he became president. For the past few years, Bobosky had been allowing small groups to use the slogan.