Is this the most confusing example of “Adventures in Copyright” ever? The other day, super blogger BryanBoy was perusing various e-commerce sites for some new fall gear (as one does) when he came across a familiar looking sweater by JW Anderson on OKI-NI.
Marc Jacobs is one of the most “directional” trend setters out there but a very well informed tipster wrote in to show us that even king Marc gets inspired, very inspired, by his peers. The Anna Sui dress is from the designer’s first ever collection-Spring 1992–and was spotted when our tipster bought an Anna Sui Read more →
As soon as we posted images of Madonna’s new Truth or Dare footwear line we heard rumblings of ‘rip off’ in the comments.
Six months ago, Louis Vuitton filed suit against The Hangover 2 for a scene in which Zach Galifianakis’ character says of his ‘LVM’-emblazoned bag, “Careful, that is a Louis Vuitton,” when of course, it’s a fake.
The bag in question was in fact produced by Diophy, a group of U.S. and Chinese companies peddling knockoffs, which Vuitton successfully won suit against in 2010. Using it in the movie, Vuitton claimed, would cause “consumer confusion,” and the luxury brand wanted some serious payback–profits from Hangover 2, triple damages, and the destruction of all copies of The Hangover Part II, to be exact. But fans of the film fear not: A judge threw out the case yesterday, calling Vuitton’s allegations “not plausible” or “particularly compelling,” according to WWD.
Hermes is not messing around when it comes to counterfeits. Last month, the legendary luxury label shut down 34 counterfeit sites–and won $100 million in damages–and now they’ve helped the French police bust an international crime ring that produced and sold knockoffs of their bags, WWD is reporting.
Apparently, the illegal operation was making millions in Hermes counterfeits–one Paris public prosecutor put profits at 18 million euros (or $22 million) for just one branch of the ring–and they were doing it all with the help of actual Hermes employees.
My friend Shane is currently living in China, and thankfully he likes to regale me with crazy tales about Chinese models and karaoke. Today’s update? This photo of a store located in Shenzhen called “Buebelly,” which is obviously meant to imitate Burberry.
Christian Louboutin, who’s been having a tough time defending his red sole trademark for a while now, has just suffered another setback in that battle. While a judge has yet to rule definitively on whether or not Louboutin should be allowed to have a trademark on red soles, a French court just gave high street retailer Zara the official go ahead to slap red soles on whatever they like. They even ordered Louboutin to pay Zara 2,500 euros ($3,600) as compensation.
It’s not at all uncommon to see fashion magazines owned by the same publishing company recycle cover photos, especially for their foreign editions. But sometimes, repeat covers pop up under strange circumstances. For example, Carey Mulligan’s October 2010 US Vogue (a Condé Nast title) shot magically showed up on the cover of French ELLE‘s (owned Read more →
Thinking of buying a Chanel-branded cell phone while vacationing in Paris this summer? (You totally were, right?) Well don’t, because you could go to jail for three years, as these clever new anti-counterfeit ads introduced today by French luxury goods association Comité Colbert make plain.
At a time when most companies are desperately trying to squash their counterfeiters, Prada is taking a slightly, um, unconventional approach, according to WWD.
While doing an interview yesterday on Bloomberg Television, Prada‘s CEO (and Miuccia’s husband) Patrizio Bertelli said “Fake goods aren’t totally bad, at least it created jobs at some counterfeit factories. We don’t want to be a brand that nobody wants to copy.”
The three-year-long Gucci v. Guess trademark infringement debacle finally came to an end this week in the US, with Gucci awarded the relatively low settlement of $4.7 million in damages (compared to the requested $221 million). But it’s not over yet: WWD is reporting that Gucci is apparently planning to file new brand protection cases in Italy, China, and France. So this is going to drag out for a long time.
But the case has been raising a lot of questions.
After all the tears, heated words and passionate cross examinations, a verdict has finally been reached in the Gucci vs. Guess copyright case, reports WWD.
Gucci has won the three-year-long legal battle over a Guess logo and diamond pattern that the luxury brand says are direct copies of Gucci trademarks. But while Gucci may be the victor, the company isn’t exactly raking in the dough like they expected.
