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Wednesday 14 October 2015

Chanel And "parody" Streetwear Brand in Trademark Suit



Parody Street Wear



CHANEL is unimpressed with a T-shirt depicting its famous double C logo as the Ghostbusters sign, so much so that it is taking legal action against the garment's makers. Jeanine Heller, the founder of "parody" streetwear brand






What About Yves - made famous for its "Aint Laurent Without Yves" merchandise - has been served with a trademark infringement suit by Chanel.

Filed last week in New York, the suit asserts that Heller is "displaying, offering for sale, and selling on her website, and selling to third-party retailers, a T-shirt and a sweatshirt bearing Chanel's CC monogram mark with an image of an animated ghost commonly associated with the motion picture Ghostbusters," The Fashion Law reports.

The company says that, far from "transforming the mark", which is a standard defence for parody products, Heller is using the "clearly recognisable CC monogram mark [on] her own clothing precisely because of the iconic status of the mark, with knowledge of its association with Chanel, in order to call to mind Chanel".

Heller's brand made fashion headlines last year when it was found to be at the root of a disagreement between Saint Laurent and Parisian boutique Colette. Heller's "Aint Laurent" merchandise - which passed comment on creative director Hedi Slimane's decision to drop the word Yves from the brand's logo - was stocked by Colette, leading Slimane to pull his Saint Laurent collection in its entirety from the store.

The website, which is still offering the "Official Chanel X Ghostbusters" designs for sale, also stocks products which parody or infringe (depending on your point of view) the famous logos of brands including Hermès, Louis Vuitton and Dior. Whether any of these brands will take legal action remains to be seen, but Chanel is seeking damages that amount to up to "three times the amount of actual damages sustained" reported Vogue UK



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Friday 9 October 2015

Stella McCartney sues Steve Madden Over Handbag Rip Off

Stella McCartney SS15


STEVE MADDEN finds himself in trouble again, this time being taken to court by UK designer Stella McCartney.

It has always been a difficult line to cross when does a high street copy of a design cross the threshold to trademark infringement.

LEFT: STELLA MCCARTNEY FALABELLA BAG; RIGHT: STEVE MADDEN BTOTALLY BAG
All the major brands have at one time or another challenged this. High street retailers like H&M and Zara and  have become giants in the apparel industry by mass producing runway-derivative styles at wallet-friendly prices. Also vice versa: Saint Laurent was recently accused of knocking off a Forever 21 dress and selling it for 150 times the original price.


LEFT: STELLA MCCARTNEY FALABELLA BAG; RIGHT: STEVE MADDEN BTOTALLY BAG

Stella McCartney has an idea on the matter. The UK-based designer has filed a lawsuit against Steve Madden for copying her popular Falabella bag just a little too closely with his BTotally bag. According to WWD, the 22-page legal document cites the charges against Madden as "trade dress infringement, unfair competition, deceptive trade practices, trade dress dilution, and design patent infringement" involving the "marketing and sale of a knock-off".

This is not a new issue and Steve Madden Ltd were sued last year by Balenciaga for doing much the same thing.

But, when is a high street copy a knock-off?


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