Fashion industry is one of the industries with more intangible assets, mainly designs and trademarks through which they share their image and identity. Below we show relevant cases in this field:
- Louis Vuitton (Case T360/12): last April, the EGC annulled the trademark consisting in brown and beige checkerboard pattern as they considered it is the traditional “basic and simple” model and does not have the distinctive character claimed by the applicant for class 18.
- Kenzo: in January this year, the CJE (Cases T393/12 and T322/13) ruled positively about the well-known character of the trademark and denied the registration applied by Kenzo Tsujimoto as they considered that there is no absolute right to the name.
- Gucci vs Guess and the fight for the monopoly of the letter G: from 2012, Gucci has brought several actions in different courts. The decisions have been different: Court of New York supported Gucci and recognized the copy, whereas the Court of Milan resolved the opposite.
- Custo Barcelona vs. Desigual: it was all just a threat of a lawsuit by Custo when considering that Desigual was not only copying their concept, but also their strategies and distributors.
- Marc Jacobs vs. Adidas: the new design by Marc Jacobs “imitates” the three iconic stripes of the sports firm and so has claimed Adidas before the Courts last April.
As you can see, fashion industry is one of the industries that give more importance to trademarks and designs as well as to defending them as a reflection of their personality.
