MUNICH (Reuters) - Adidas said on Wednesday it was disappointed with a European Union court ruling declaring its three-stripe trademark invalid but the German sporting goods firm said the decision would only affect a particular use of the famous symbol.

The European Union’s second highest court ruled on Wednesday that Adidas’ three-stripe branding was invalid as a trademark as it lacked a distinctive character.

“This ruling is limited to this particular execution of the 3-stripe mark and does not impact on the broad scope of protection that Adidas has on its well-known 3-stripe mark in various forms in Europe,” Adidas said in a statement.