European Fashion Law

The fashion industry is no stranger to IP disputes. In the last year, The IPKat has written about disputes involving Zara, Nike and Nike and some innovative anti-counterfeiting from Deisel (sic). Whether it is competitor "inspiration" or a designer who inadvertently sells their name with their company the battles are myriad and go to the core of questions such as what is creativity and where the line is between standard design features and protectable IP rights. The latest de

Star Athletica v Varsity Brands sent shockwaves through the fashion and copyright worlds but is it the game changing decision some have suggested? The Supreme Court decision is not about whether the cheerleader uniforms met the requisite level of creativity to qualify for protection as copyright works (although both majority opinions did note that the level of creativity required is "extremely low" following Feist). Instead, this case was concerned with art as it is applied t

Throughout Europe, and indeed in most jurisdictions worldwide, copyright arises automatically upon the creation of the work. Copyright is therefore a very flexible right which has come to the rescue of many a fashion brand. For the major international copyright treaties such as the Berne Convention and TRIPS, it is an essential requirement that all signatories (in practice most countries worldwide) offer automatic protection for copyright works. While you do not need to regis