With ever-changing trends, the cost of keeping up with the latest fad can quickly add up for style-conscious consumers. As such, many well-known clothing retailers have adopted a business model called “fast-fashion”. Retailers –including Zara and H&M– offer the trendiest clothing garments and accessories at a low price in order to cater to the consumer […]
Although there is no shortage of counterfeit products on the market, it is not everyday that a high fashion designer sues your local flea market. Recently, Louis Vuitton reportedly filed a lawsuit against Dr. Flea’s Flea Market for intentionally selling a handbag that was evidently in violation of Canadian trademark and copyright laws.
A lot of fashion seems to look the same; such is the nature of trends and functionality. Sometimes the similarities go much further. Fashion behemoth Zara (among others) is no stranger to accusations it copied other designers’ styles. The company is in that spotlight again: this time thanks to assertions that it blatantly ripped off […]
A recent incident involving replication of an Inuit design by a UK fashion label raises interesting questions regarding whether businesses should be required to go beyond the scope of law and consider what is ethical within the culture being borrowed from. Salome Awa, an Inuit woman, was outraged to discover a sweater made by fashion […]
In an interesting twist, arguably the two most common fashion design piracy defendants are pitted against each other. H & M Hennes & Mauritz AB (“H&M”) has issued a complaint against Forever 21, Inc., in the US District Court Southern District of New York. Below is a comparative image of the tote bags at issue:
After Starbucks, American Eagle and Roberto Cavalli, it is now Moschino and its designer Jeremy Scott’s turn (yes, again) to face the latest street art copyright infringement case. Joseph Tierny — a New York artist commonly known as Rime — is accusing Moschino and Scott of “inexplicably plac[ing] [his] art on their highest-profile apparel without his knowledge […]
Some may say that there is no Laurent without Yves, but Hedi Slimane is definitely not one of them. Luxury Goods International (LGI), the owner of Saint Laurent Paris’ trademarks, is suing Jeanine Heller, founder of What About Yves, for trademark infringement, trademark dilution, false designation of origin and unfair competition. Her parody t-shirts had […]
Converse, a subsidiary of Nike[1], has recently filed 22 separate lawsuits against 31 retailers and shoe designers, claiming trademark infringement for the design of their classic “Converse All Stars” shoes. Defendants include giant retailers Kmart and Wal-Mart and designers such as Sketchers, Fila and H&M.
Knockoffs run rampant in the retail and fashion industries. For those of us that are fashion-forward but not looking to incur debilitating debt, we resign ourselves to settling for the closest lookalike. But while these products may save us some money, it is usually at the expense of designers from whose unique and original work […]
On May 10, 2013, York University’s Osgoode Hall Law School Graduate Law Student Association (GLSA) held a two day Graduate Student Law Conference at the Oakham House at Ryerson University in downtown Toronto.