Filene's Store Gets Told to Eff Off Because of Fendi

Does anyone remember how Samantha from Sex and the City buys a fake Fendi bag? It was interesting because the term "fake Fendi" was then used to describe anything that was a sham. This was because of Charlotte crying that her marriage was a "fake Fendi".

Here is a clip in case you forgot about this famous scene in Sex and the City here.

Well perhaps that may have been why the Italian fashion house of Fendi asked the court for an injunction against the Filene's store known as Filene's Basement to stop selling accessories bearing Fendi's name or trademark without its permission. According to Reuters, a Manhattan federal judge has granted that injunction request this week. Fendi is seeking to clear the market out of any "fake Fendi" accessories.

Fendi recently battled the retailer Burlington Coat Factory for selling counterfeit Fendi goods. This month has been particularly litigious for fashion houses in NYC. As we wrote about earlier, Burberry sued TJ Maxx. Coach sued K-Mart and LVMH is suing Hyundai over trademark violations.

Burberry Company Wins $1.5 Million Dollar Award

The Burberry Company has been awarded a $1.5 million dollar award in statutory damages against a New York based importer and online seller Designer Imports Inc. this past Tuesday. The judge found that the company was selling counterfeit apparel and accessories.

The funny thing is that the company had gotten into legal trouble with Burberry before back in 2007 and agreed not to sell anymore counterfeit Burberry items. When the fashion house decided to investigate and purchased Burberry items from the online store, the Burberry company found that all of them were fake.

While the judgment is favorable for Burberry, it is not the $6.5 million dollars that they had originally asked for.

Chanel Takes a Licking, But Remains Victorious

Chanel history will show how the fashion luxury brand went from being imitated, to being blamed of forgery....only to be exonerated.

Chanel was charged with forgery (the blasphemy!) four years ago by one of its smaller suppliers World Tricot.

The Wall Street Journal reports that a Paris commercial court has ruled in favor of the legendary design house this past Friday. However, the fashion house was charged with a breach of contract. As a result, Chanel must pay approximately $583,960 to the supplier for Chanel's cancellation of orders. This is a small victory for the supplier, but the French court also awarded Chanel with half that amount for what it called a "smear campaign".

The lawsuit centered around a floral crochet pattern that World Tricot sent to Chanel for consideration, but that Chanel refused to use. Afterwards, the founder of World Tricot spotted a similar crochet design on Chanel clothing. She promptly filed the lawsuit.

While Chanel remained victorious, it was a bittersweet win. The lawsuit centered around a supplier who worked with women from third world countries and focused on female empowerment. As a result of losing its contract with Chanel, the company was forced into bankruptcy.

Ed Hardy's Work Is Now Popular With Pirates

According the New York Times, the infamous tattoo artist's famous designs, style, and even his name are all being targeted by fashion pirates looking to make a quick buck.

The trademark name is actually pulling in more than $700 million dollars a year. This is more than enough incentive for pirates to actually use search engine optimization to their advantage and create dummy websites that mimic Ed Hardy's website:

"Backers of the Ed Hardy name find themselves in a constant battle with counterfeiters who quickly and easily create fake Ed Hardy Web sites, almost indistinguishable from the real sites, and then try to manipulate Google’s search and advertising systems. The end goal is to make sure people hunting for Ed Hardy gear online find the fake goods first, lining the pockets of pirates, largely based in China."

Mr. Hardy was actually quoted by the New York Times as saying, “In the early days in the city, I might do one tattoo and then wait three days to do another. I think it’s funny and totally surreal to see what’s happened.”

It will be interesting to see what happens. In this case, it seems that counterfeiters are actually copying written content from the actual Ed Hardy website word for word. Recent case law has shown that use of a rival's trademark protected phrase as a keyword does not infringe on their mark, but if the ad actually displayed as a featured result has the protected phrase, then there is trademark infringement. According to Google's AdWords and AdSense policy, it is the advertiser's responsibility for the keywords they choose to generate advertisements and the text that they choose to use in those advertisements.

Let's see if there will be some lawsuits filed on the heels of this article!

Professional Updates

I just wanted to let my few dedicated readers know that I have been asked by Thomson Reuters to blog for Findlaw. As a result, I may not be able to post on From Runway to Highway Robbery as frequently as I used to.

I do plan to post as often as I can though. Please come back for more posts that are Fashion or Fashion IP related. I thank you for your wonderful support and look forward to seeing your comments on Findlaw's blogs too.

Is the Grecian Dress The Uniform of the Recessionista?

Leighton Meester in a goddess gown by Bottega Veneta.


It has been a slow week for fashion piracy, but I came across an interesting article in the Wall Street Journal that chronicles the rise and fall of the Grecian dress.

For example, check out Ms. Blake Lively from Gossip Girl in this Oscar de la Renta dress:



Basically the article details how during a a recession, there is a shift in clothing from the ostentatiously ornate construction of dresses to a looser more free flowing look in clothes. This shift signals the rise of the Grecian dress which is typically either one shoulder or strapless. The dress involves pleating and folds which are generally more forgiving to the body. As a result, more women can wear this type of gown:

"Designers say the economic downturn and resulting implosion of the luxury market has resurrected the Grecian dress, which in the last few decades has emerged as the go-to look at times of financial or social turmoil. Valerie Steele, director of the museum at the Fashion Institute of Technology, notes that Grecian dresses were big in the 1970s, after the social revolution of the 1960s, as well as in the 1990s, after the excesses of the 1980s. 'We've been in this time of excess and we're in a clean moment now,' says Zac Posen, who showed Grecian-style dresses in his fall 2009 runway show. 'The Grecian dress is part of that clean moment.'"

One of the things that struck me was the near impossibility of actually being able to claim an IP claim on such a perennial design. When we look at actual silhouettes such as the Grecian dress, strapless dresses, column dresses, and wrap dresses it becomes clear why legislators are loathe to pass a bill that would protect fashion designers.

It is hard to decipher what is piracy and what is a normal fashion fad that is open to all designers and retailers. It will be interesting to notice how many designers will incorporate this trend into their own lines.

Jean Paul Gaultier Sets His Sights on Target

It turns out that all of those rumblings earlier in September were true: Jean Paul Gaultier is doing a collaborative line for the large retailer Target.

According to NY Magazine: "The rumors were true! Jean Paul Gaultier is doing a Target collection. It will hit more than 250 Target stores across the country and Target.com on March 7, and be available through April 11. Gaultier is the third established designer to do a collection for the mass retailer (after Alexander McQueen and Anna Sui) under the Designer Collaboration series. Target makes the designers in this series choose a muse for their collections. McQueen chose Leila Moss, Sui chose the girls of Gossip Girl, and guess what Gaultier chose?

Jean Paul Gaultier for Target pays tribute to the American woman, celebrating the forces of style both past and present in American pop culture, the retailer said."

I am so excited!

While the recession has created a cesspool of knockoffs, it has also spawned the creative versioning of high fashion designers. Fashion is no longer just for a few individuals who can afford it, it is accessible to a more general consumer.

Again, while it is necessary to have a bill like the Design Piracy Prohibition Act passed, I worry if it will hinder this creative process that designers are going through in order to combat piracy. I don't think I have ever witnessed so many talented designers working to create affordable lines (not even during the 1990's recession).

It would be a shame to put all of that to an end once the bill is passed. What do you think?