The court adjourned the matter to later this month, following one of the respondents BCCI seeking more time to file its reply. During the proceedings, BCCI counsel Rajiv Nayar informed the Monopolies and Restrictive Trade Practices Commission that the cricket board had not received the notice and sought time to file its reply.
Accepting the request, an MRTPC bench comprising Justice O P Dwivedi and Justice D C Gupta adjourned the matter towards the end of the month. Counsels for Nike and Adidas, and Tendulkar and his business managing firm Iconix did not oppose the adjournment.
On May 25, admitting a petition filed by Adidas, MRTPC had issued notices to Nike, BCCI and Tendulkar, along with his business managing firm Iconix, directing them to file replies within three weeks.
Nike had already filed its reply in which it had denied all the allegations made by Adidas. Alleging that Nike was violating exclusive personal endorsement agreement with Tendulkar by using his name for promoting its products, Adidas has sought compensation.
Addidas is having an exclusive brand endorsement contract with Sachin Tendulkar since 1997. It has also made the cricketer a proforma respondent in the case. Nike has a five-year contract with BCCI for team's on-field uniform. It won the bid in 2005 with a Rs 199.66 crore (Rs 1.99 billion) offer.
