Hello Kitty Really Does Wear Lipstick Even If She is Not a Pig

MAC Cosmetics had announced that it has inked a licensing agreement with Sanrio in order to start selling two lines of Hello Kitty branded makeup. As a refresher of sorts, a license is an agreement between a licensor (in this case Sanrio) and a licensee (MAC cosmetics). The licensor grants the licensee permission to distribute products such as the ones you see above using the licensor's trademark. Basically, MAC Cosmetics can peddle its Hello Kitty wares without fear that Sanrio will file a trademark infringement lawsuit.

*From WWD:

"MAC has been mining pop culture since the brand was founded,” said John Demsey, group president of the Estée Lauder Cos. Inc. “This is a sexy and innocent fashion line, and a true MAC moment. In these times, everyone can use a little fun — and a little Kitty.”

“The partnership was a no-brainer,” said James Gager, senior vice president and creative director of MAC Worldwide. “We cater to people who love to play with makeup.”
While in many licensing partnerships, the licensor shops his or her property around, MAC went after Sanrio, Hello Kitty’s owner, to do the deal. “They had never done makeup before, and I was certain that all those women who already own a bit of Hello Kitty would also want to own branded makeup,” said Gager.

It does seem a little strange to be peddling products based on a cartoon character that does not even have lips! I don't even think Hello Kitty wears makeup. Another disturbing aspect is the fact that the company is using a branded character that is meant to appeal to little girls yet it is rebranding it as a little bit more adult: "In-store visuals, shot by Nick Knight, show the polar opposite aspects of the collection. One is an image of a blonde model holding a black vinyl Hello Kitty doll, which will be part of the accessory line. The other visual is what Gager terms “more of a dominatrix creature.” The point, said Gager, is to show that makeup can be transformative."

While I was looking at these products that are going to be launched by MAC starting on Feb. 10, 2009 I could not help but notice that the Kitty Kouture line includes a Swarovski compact of Ms. Hello Kitty that looks eerily similar to the diamond/Swarovski pendants that Kimora Lee Simmons made in 2005. I wonder if Kimora will be lining up to buy her own Hello Kitty makeup, or if she will feel miffed that Sanrio did not do a makeup collaboration with her makeup line. From what I remember, her makeup line was sold in Sephora, but if you look at the Sephora website, it is no longer carried. I wonder what happened there? Perhaps this is why Sanrio agreed to MAC's licensing deal? It is a little strange for Estee Lauder Inc. to pursue such an unusual partnership though. The company typically caters to a more adult aesthetic. Perhaps this is why they are making Hello Kitty dark?

In short, this is one licensing agreement I am a little on the fence about. Stranger things have happened though. It would not be surprising if this does become a cult hit. Mixing a little dark with innocence is very alluring.

Hit the Road Mac

Well it looks like Apple has its hands full with piracy issues. After the whole rash of iClones (knockoffs of their iPhones), Apple has had to deal with Pystar's knockoffs of their Mac computers.

I am not that technically savvy, but taking Apple's software and applying to a PC is wrong. When you install the software, it warns you that it is only licensed to run on Apple products. Pystar basically uses a fully licensed unmodified version of the software, but that installation warning is still present. While the vision of the company is to provide consumers with a great software system without having to deal with buying an expensive Mac computer, it is a software system that was created by Apple. Apple did not license out the right to use that software with anything other than their own Macs.

Apple brought a copyright infringement suit against Pystar in August. Pystar responded with a countersuit of unfair competition alleging that Apple has a restraint on trade with its End User License Agreements (EULA) and wanted the U.S. District Court of Northern California to find the EULA void. This was a difficult argument to comprehend because a company loading its own hardware with its own software is not typically considered a trade restraint. Most legal experts noted that Pystar would have a hard time trying to argue that Apple has engaged in monopolistic business practices that would warrant an antitrust action.

It looks like those legal experts were right. The judge has rejected Pystar's claims that Apple has violated Sherman's antitrust laws. One of the key issues was the claim put forth by Pystar that the Mac OS is an independent market that was being dominated unfairly by Apple alone. One of Pystar's claims to this separate market were Apple's commercials that use the tagline "Think different". However Judge Alsup noted that: "Those advertising campaigns more plausibly support an inference contrary to that asserted in the counterclaim. Vigorous advertising is a sign of competition, not a lack thereof." (http://www.informationweek.com/news/hardware/mac/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=212100757)

While Pystar has twenty days to submit a motion to reconsider the dismissal, it is pretty clear that Pystar is up the creek without a paddle. This particular countersuit was being tracked by all of the major PC makers because if Pystar was successful, then it would have been able to pave the way for other PC makers to offer their own hardware that would have the capacity to run with Apple's software. Well looks like Apple lives another day without having to worry about that happening. At least for now.

McQueen Is the Real McCoy

Please take a close look at these two logos: Do you think they look similar? The invitees to Mr. McQueen's launch of his line McQ were also confused.

Mr. McQueen apparently was getting tired of the British discount chain ripping off his designs. The chain called their designs as being "inspired" by Mr. McQueen's work on the runway, but failed to compensate Mr. McQueen. He decided rather than fight the often futile fight of intellectual property rights litigation, he would fight back with his own knockoff. He took the font used by Topshop for their logo and did a play on words for his own invitation. The invitation looked like the logo on the left. It said "Chop Shop: Higher Street Fashion". The term "higher street fashion" is a mocking spin on Topshop's use of the term "high street fashion".

While I did an earlier post disparaging Mr. McQueen's offering of what looked like prison wear sweaters, I have to give Mr. McQueen points for striking back at Topshop with such a clever little invitation! Maybe his designs for the McQ line are really just items he wanted to offer any of the offending knockoff artists who rip off his designs when he finally does try to prosecute them?

As the Economy Tanks Pirates Need to Jump Ship

While the world is reeling from economic shock all over, there is a new resurgence in counterfeits seizures. Pirates who have enjoyed a prosperous few years without much government interference can most likely blame the economy for this new attitude in government intervention. It is actually a good thing for the government to try to intervene because these goods and their profits are not actually being reported to the government. The government can't benefit from the revenues. So with piracy there is a loss of potential revenues for both designers and the government. Now that the government is feeling a pinch, they are more willing to regulate and crack down on bootleggers. Here is an excerpt from Women's Wear Daily:

"COUNTERFEIT SEIZURES UP: U.S. Customs and Border Protection said last week that it seized more than 400 shipments of counterfeit and pirated goods in the New York and Newark, N.J., seaport in the fiscal year ended Sept. 30. The merchandise had a domestic value of about $100 million, a 53 percent increase over the previous year. For the total New York area, Customs last year conducted more than 700 intellectual property rights seizures, of which counterfeit textiles, apparel and footwear accounted for 78 percent."

I say bravo for the U.S. Customs and Border Protection for recognizing the legal rights of IP holders. It may have come because of government's own stake in revenues, but better late than never right?

H&M Does a Collaboration With Commes Des Garcons

Shortly after Alexander McQueen announced his collaboration with Target stores and his McQ line, H&M decided to release its line collaboration with Tokyo designer Rei Kawabuko (who designs the line Commes Des Garcons) on November 13, 2008.

H&M has already released the line in two of its stores in the Harajuku district and the Ginza district. Lines were long and the shoppers were excited.

I honestly feel that H&M is making a better move with its version of designer versioning because it actually tries to make fashion accessible without compromising on quality:

"As Rei Kawakubo said in the beginning of this collaboration, it is a fascinating challenge to work with H&M and take the dilemma between creation and business to its extreme and try to solve it. Witnessing the launch, Rei Kawakubo says: 'The first reaction from the customers is beyond our expectations. Comme des Garçons’ spirit together with H&M’s commercial sense seems to work very well.'"

'Rei Kawakubo’s intellectual and avant-garde collection for H&M is a success among our fashion-conscious audience in Japan. It is a particularly exciting but also very wearable collection featuring her signature deconstructed tailored garments and well-cut classics in special fabrics. Creating this collection together has been fun and a great experience,' says H&M’s creative advisor Margareta van den Bosch.

I agree with Rei Kawakubo's efforts to bring well cut classics in special fabrics. It is important for designers to realize that versioning is meant to make their designs accessible, but not cheap. It seems that some designers are looking at versioning as a way to fatten their bottom line with cheaply made clothes with their name attached to it that is distributed in major retail outlets, but that only hurts the designer in the long run when a consumer purchases that product and is disgusted with the quality of the designs. Viva H&M for bringing back affordable quality!

All Hail The McQueen: Coming to a Target Near You

*Photo courtesy of WWD*

After almost a year of lauding designer efforts to stave off the knockoffs by creating diffusion lines, one of our favorite designers Mr. Alexander McQueen has decided to work in conjunction with Target in order to bring you a diffusion line of his own called McQ.

While I am thrilled that Mr. McQueen has embraced versioning in this rather dismal economy, I am a bit thrown off by the name: McQ? Is it me, does it sound like a trademark ripoff of the famous nickname given to McDonald's: McD's? Clearly someone who was branding for Mr. McQueen was not really paying attention to the connotations of this new line's name. Is this a sign of clothing going down the fast food trails? The last thing we need is for diffusion lines to be the equivalent of disposable clothing.

My idea of versioning is taking a designer's work and reworking it in more accessible fabrics in order to help create a more affordable collection in order to capture consumers who would never purchase the high end look but may be inclined to purchase the cheap knockoff. For example, taking a crocodile bag and using the same look working with affordable leather instead.

However, the whole idea of disposable clothing runs counterintuitive to how the economy is flowing right now. The last thing any consumer (rich or poor) wants is a closet full of clothes that you can only wear a handful of times before they become utterly useless. Designers need to start thinking of offering more recession proof pieces. While I admire Mr. McQueen's designs, I am a bit disapponted at his offering of the sweater in the above picture. The colors are downright depressing, the sweater material looks cheap, and the shape is not flattering. The only thing keeping this whole look from falling apart is the chic belt which actually gives the sweater some shape. Has anyone been watching the styles on AMC's Mad Men? We need more clothes like that.

I think that while Target has been on the money with its Go International initiatives and pairing with hip young designers like Proenza Schouler, Behnaz Sarafpour and Holly Dunlap, this upcoming collaboration has me a little nervous. I hope that we can see some designs from the McQ line that knockoff artists will want to knockoff, not run away from.

Tiffany Gets a Boost in eBay Case by IACC Amicus Brief

*The image is courtesy of Robert Caplin/Bloomberg News*

Tiffany & Co. has filed an appeal with the United Court of Appeals of the Second Circuit in its bid to prevent eBay from selling counterfeit goods on their website that bear the Tiffany trademark. Tiffany had lost this lawsuit in the lower court.

In an amicus brief submitted by the IACC (International Anti Counterfeiting Coalition) recently, eBay's contributory liability is put forth as a reason to overturn the lower court's ruling. eBay was put on notice of the presence of counterfeits by Tiffany & Co. since 2003. The IACC contends that when a marketplace operator becomes aware of the presence of widespread counterfeits in its marketplace, it has a responsibility to stop these transactions and also stop providing services to those responsible for such transactions.

"Robert Barchiesi, President of the IACC said, 'Counterfeiting is a criminal activity carried out on global scale and, with eBay turning a blind eye, broadly on the Internet. In fact, eBay is estimated to provide the forum for 29 percent of the entire online counterfeit market, which has widespread public health and safety hazards, as well as causing substantial economic harm to legitimate business. Therefore, we need to take vigilant action to prevent it.

It is not acceptable that today eBay still tolerates blatant counterfeits being sold on its website. The lower court's ruling in Tiffany's suit against eBay, if left to stand, would result in consumers continuing to be victimized, and place an impossibly onerous burden on trademark owners to police the eBay site on their own. Our brief asks the Court to recognize both eBay's contributory and direct liability as well as the pressing need to take action to protect consumers'" (http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story/international-anti-counterfeiting-coalition-iacc/story.aspx?guid=%7B4E0C060D-E5AA-43C0-8A49-961CE2CF6A39%7D&dist=hppr).

I must say that I agree. Since eBay is such a large online marketplace, it would place an undue burden on trademark holders to go around trying to catch every counterfeit item that is placed on the market. This would be impractical and nearly impossible for smaller companies that hold trademarks.

However, it is also placing an undue burden on eBay to require them to track every merchant that posts an item for sale. Since eBay uses a business model that leaves them as an uninvolved third party in the transaction, it is hard to figure out who can be held responsible (besides the individual actually selling the counterfeit item). It will be interesting to see if this amicus brief helps out Tiffany & Co. in its appeal. More on this case in the next few months.

Is Mrs. O The Next Jackie O?

Michelle Obama really loves her Narciso Rodriguez. She is seen on the campaign trail in a black, white, and gray Narciso sheath dress on the left. She was rumored to be wearing a Narciso knockoff on the website Mrs. O (as seen in the maroon and white dress on the right). Luckily, it was just an "inspired" dress by the retailer H&M. Since cut, color, and style of the dress are not unique to Narciso Rodriguez, it is not seen as something that he as a designer can protect from other copycats. This is where the line between inspiration and flat out copying gets blurred.

Luckily, Mrs. Obama has fallen back on her favorite designer for election night. She wore this stunning black sleeveless dress with an ombre dye pattern of red. Her color palette choice can be seen as an olive branch for the disappointed Republicans. Her favored silhouette of the sheath dress is reminiscent of another iconic First Lady: Ms. Jackeline Kennedy Onassis.

It is interesting to see Mrs. Obama lean on one particular designer instead of wearing an array of designers. Ms. Jackeline Onassis also relied heavily on the designer Oleg Cassini for her wardrobe while she was First Lady in the White House.

I wonder if there will be an increase of knockoffs of this particular Narciso Rodriguez dress now. Those in the fashion world at the time of Mr. Kennedy's inauguration can recall how Ms. Onassis' skirt suit and pill box hat inspired others. Since it was a little windy, when she pressed her hand against the hat and it left a dent on it. Soon after, there was tons of knockoff suits with matching pill box hats. The most flattering touch was that everyone actually went out of their way to put a dent purposely in their own pill box hats.

It is clear that Mrs. Obama is also inspired. Please see the apricot homage to Jackie O above coupled with her hair and accessories. Is imitation the best form of flattery?

YES WE DID

I am writing this post because this is a pivotal point in United States politics. Barack Hussein Obama has been nominated as our FIRST African-American President-elect! While this is not directly related to Intellectual Property, I do sincerely believe that his presidency will be more effective in governing our country diplomatically in world trade to protect intellectual property rights for all. He will build bridges and be able to work in concert with countries in order to ensure that we do not lose any more jobs or revenue because of international piracy. I wish him well and I can not wait to blog about Intellectual Property under his administration.

More Thoughts On International Piracy

While this is a blog that focuses on Fashion Intellectual Property, sometimes it is nice to get a larger sense of what is going on in the world of Intellectual Property. Right now, the United States is at a very important juncture in its economic health. This election means lots of things, but one of them is how the United States will survive.

Whether you know it or not, intellectual property is necessary to United States' survival in the global market: "

"The FBI estimates that intellectual property theft costs the U.S. economy more than $250 billion a year. According to U.S. Customs and Border Protection, that translates into more than 750,000 lost jobs. Exactly what that means in terms of lost exports is tough to quantify, but Jonathan Huneke, vice president of the U.S. Council for International Business, believes it is profound. 'Products with significant IP (intellectual property) make up more than half of all U.S. exports, driving 40 percent of the country’s growth,' he said." (http://www.shippingdigest.com/news/article.asp?sid=5598&ltype=feature)

The scary thing is that most businesses do not realize that their intellectual property protection only covers their products within the United States. If you copyright an item in the U.S. or own a trademark in the U.S., it does not cover any copyright or trademark infringement internationally: "And according to Hank Cox, a spokesman for the National Association of Manufacturers, the problem is made worse by the fact that most small businesses do not know there is a problem. 'Research conducted in the spring of 2005 by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office indicates that only 15 percent of small businesses that do business overseas know that a U.S. patent or trademark provides protection only in the United States,' Cox said.

An artist who was trying to break into the fashion industry learned this the hard way: "A painter and designer, who asked that her name not be used, two years ago sent out a fabric design to be reproduced by a Chinese manufacturer. She obtained an international copyright and seemed to follow all the steps needed for a modest expansion of her little operation in a resort town.
But as she was holding a press conference to unveil her new design, friends hesitantly told her that they had already seen purses with the design available in the shops of the tourist area where she worked. The counterfeits were from China.

'The fakes actually were turned around faster than her originals,' a friend said. 'There was nothing she could do that made any sort of economic sense as she had no resources to fight it. All of us in the design business learned a lesson that very small businesses must be very careful in outsourcing material.'

The painter got out of the outsourcing business and redirected her efforts to other, non-counterfeitable businesses, such as painting, a gallery and a restaurant." (http://www.shippingdigest.com/news/article.asp?sid=5598&ltype=feature)

Here is my take on this: It is necessary for regular Americans to stop obsessing over manufacturing jobs that are being outsourced. That is something that we can not control. However as this global economy gets tighter and more interwoven, it will become more necessary for Americans to pay attention to intellectual property rights. This election makes a difference. Go out and vote! Our economic well being depends on it.

CNN Takes a Knock At China's Knockoffs And The Simpsons Make Fun of Them

Just when you thought the ruckus about China's knockoffs has died down, CNN Money's column runs a piece with the best diplomatic dig I have read about China to date. The article was written in the context of explaining how and why China has not been able to break the U.S. market for cars yet:

"This means conquering the U.S. and European markets with something other than cheap knockoffs and reversing an abysmal safety record (83% of the country's recalls in recent years involved domestic-made vehicles, which command just one-fifth of the market)." http://money.cnn.com/2008/10/30/autos/china_cars.fortune/

I love how Mina Kimes writes about China's conquering the U.S. and European markets with "cheap knockoffs". I hate to point this out, but China would not be able to conquer these markets if we had more stringent laws protecting consumers against such knockoffs. I must also point out that China would not be able to sell its cheap knockoffs if there was not such a high demand for them either.

Speaking of knockoff cars, The Simpsons did a very good job making fun of knockoff cars (and the popular show Transformers) in its most recent Halloween special last night. In their Treehouse of Horror special, the first cartoon is titled "Untitled Robot Parody". Bart buys Lisa a knockoff of the Malibu Stacy convertible. The convertible morphs into a robot and instructs the other toys in Lisa's room to transform into robots. Soon after, the whole town of Springfield is overrun with huge robots battling each other. As typical of the show Transformers which is what The Simpsons is parodying, the whole town is left in shambles after the robots fight their battle.

I wonder what the Copyright Czar would have to say about that.

Sarah Palin REALLY Likes Knockoffs

Well it seems like Sarah Palin really likes her knockoffs. Eric Wilson mentioned this in his article in the New York Times on October 22, 2009. Ms. Palin was seen wearing a knockoff Burberry scarf when she arrived at the governor's mansion for the first time in 2006. It seems that she must have liked that knockoff so much, that she wore it again during an ice festival.

Ms. Palin may be a soccer mom who seems accessible to many Americans, but this show of wearing knockoffs strikes me as being even worse than wearing clothes bought on a sky high budget by the RNC.

When you purchase knockoffs, you are encouraging things such as trademark dilution, blurring and tarnishment. These are some of the harms that are borne not only by the fashion designers, but also consumers.

When you purchase a knockoff, you are most likely buying an inferior product that is assembled in a country that is abusing its workers in order to create a cheaply made product for your consumption. This worker abuse can be anything from being severely underpaid (if at all) or use of child labor. Does Sarah Palin want to be known as a person who encourages the use of child labor all in the name of fashion?

Here is another example of her daughter wearing a Louis Vuitton knockoff.

Clearly, since Piper is only seven years old, she was under the influence of her dear old mom with this fashion wardrobe choice. By the way, you can tell that this handbag is a fake because the LV logo would never be cut off at the seam. Only the symbols are cut off at the seam with authentics while the LV logo itself is always centered.

Another point of concern is that with the sale of knockoffs such as this one, it is potentially funding criminal activities such as drug trafficking, prostitution, child labor, and even terrorist groups. When you make a transaction in the black market, the money from that transaction could be floated into any of these activities even without your intention.

Is this what Sarah Palin wants to encourage? I should hope not! It is sad to think that Piper may be holding a bag that may have been sewn by a counterpart that is her age.

In other Sarah Palin knockoff news, it turns out that perhaps Ms. Palin is not the sharpest tool in the shed when it comes to fakes so we should all give her a break. She was pranked by the Mask Avengers by the name of Marc-Antoine Audette and Sebastien Trudel who are prominent Canadian comedians. Audette posed as the French President Nicolas Sarkozy and spoke with an extreme French accent where he pretended to like hunting, alluded to Ms. Palin's comment about Russia being visible from Alaska, and also poked fun at Dick Cheney's hunting skills. Ms. Palin unfortunately, did not pick up on any of these verbal cues. It is clear that Ms. Palin should be not criticized too harshly for her knockoff fashion choices because it was clear from this phone call that she can not tell the difference between a fake and the real deal.