The charity, Break the Cycle, claims it never reached a formal licensing agreement with Adidas to use its logo on the "Respect ME" clothing line, although Adidas has used the nonprofit's trademark to promote the product, including on its Web site and on clothing tags which indicated a portion of the proceeds would be donated to the charity.

The lawsuit says Adidas continued to use its logo as recently as February despite having received a cease-and-desist letter in November.

Break the Cycle, which promotes efforts to end domestic violence, alleges that it was advanced about $50,000 (41,500 euros) by Adidas, although the company never made clear how that amount was calculated. The charity says it believes Adidas has had sales in excess of $100 million since Eliott's clothing line was launched in 2004.