#luxury

Jan 6, 2021
1 min

Arbitration (clauses) last a long time...

Are arbitration clauses a good idea? This post is not going to resolve this longstanding debate but it will highlight some of the intended (and unintended) consequences of an arbitration clause. The use of arbitration clauses in trade mark coexistence agreements was recently considered by the UK's IP Enterprise Court (IPEC) in Lifestyle Equities CV & Anor v Hornby Street (MCR) Ltd & Ors. Lifestyle Equities owns six EUTMs and one UKTM (post Brexit that is 7 UKTMs) for BEVERLEY

Dec 24, 2020
1 min

The last Community Design case (in the UK)

A case regarding “ballet flats” is likely the last time in which a UK court will sit as a Community Design Court, and the judgment was handed down expeditiously given the end of the Brexit transition period on 31 December 2020. The case involved registered Community designs (RCDs) and unregistered Community designs (UCDs), and issues of both validity and infringement. Deputy High Court Judge David Stone found: both the registered and unregistered design to be valid as they pr

Dec 24, 2020
2 min

Brand extensions beware!

You take a famous car company with a well known trade mark, say Ferrari, and decide that you can get an entirely new revenue stream licensing this mark for use on FMCG products such as clothing. It is a roaring success! Competitors look at this success and think - great idea! Let's copy it... but not all of them clear their rights first. The following is a cautionary tale in more ways than one. I was in charge of this case from its start until well into the disclosure phase.

Sep 4, 2019
2 min

Louboutin - red soles and trade mark protection

The red sole on the base of Louboutin shoes has been the focus of both media and legal attention for many years. There has been extensive litigation in the USA about the red sole (see here). In Europe, the issues have focused on Louboutin's various European trade marks for the red sole in relation to "Footwear (other than orthopaedic footwear)" in Benelux and "High-heeled shoes (except orthopaedic footwear)" at EUIPO. The mark's description refers to Pantone 18.1663TP and not

Mar 10, 2019
1 min

European Fashion Law: The book is out!

We have had the launch parties and the book is officially OUT NOW! I've had such lovely feedback already. I hope you both enjoy it and find it incredibly useful for you in your business or legal practice. What's European Fashion Law about? Fashion is big business - it has complicated supply chains, may involve large property portfolios of retail and warehouses and affects millions of employees and contractors. Fashion brands and the associated intellectual property are extrem

Mar 1, 2019
2 min

Brexit & IP - what you need to know

Brexit may be nearly upon us. If this happens after 29 March there are various short term consequences to registered rights in the UK and EU. You don't necessarily need to refile a UK mark but forewarned is forearmed. Registered EU trade marks All existing EU trade marks will still cover the UK post Brexit but they will change identity. From Brexit day, EU trade marks in the UK will automatically convert into “Comparable Trade Marks (EU)”. No fee is payable and the owners of

Jan 5, 2019
2 min

Smells like IP infringement?

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

Nov 27, 2018
2 min

Unregistered designs - the unknown but super useful IP right

Just under four years ago the UK Intellectual Property Office commissioned research to address the lack of existing data on design infringement. The results of that research were published last week. My key takeaway is that the designs community does not appreciate the value of designs - particularly unregistered designs. This post aims to change that. Unregistered vs unregistered designs In the report, unregistered designs were rated at the bottom of the list of useful right

Nov 23, 2018
5 min

Sustainability, cocktails and the V&A

On Thursday evening, V&A members and their friends convened in the Members Room for an evening of inspiring discussion about fashion and sustainability (and fair trade cocktails). The main event was a talk followed by a Q&A from Orsola de Castro the co-founder of Fashion Revolution. Her key takeaway message was that it is down to us to take responsibility for the origin of our clothes. The origins story Orsola explained that Fashion Revolution really began with the Rana Plaza

Nov 6, 2018
2 min

How do you get copyright protection?

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

Oct 25, 2018
3 min

Designs - what are they and how do they protect the fashion industry?

The fashion industry has obtained enormous benefits from the protection offered by design law in the European Union. But to say that designs law is complicated would be a big understatement. This post introduces registered and unregistered designs and outlines the ways in which they can be used to protect the fashion industry. EU level design protection The European Union offers two types of design protection which apply across the whole of the EU, namely registered and unreg

Oct 23, 2018
3 min

Sustainable fashion - the Unmade story

Unmade is transforming the fashion industry and creating a revolution in how people buy their clothes. I recently attended an event where Hal Watts, one of the founders of Unmade, was interviewed by Brooke Roberts-Islam, a fashion tech and sustainability expert. Unmade is a global fashion software company which drives innovation through customisation. It offers fashion businesses an end-to-end digital solution for on-demand production at scale. Nice! Unmade works with some of

Sep 30, 2018
6 min

Fashion, sustainability and the circular economy

I recently had the pleasure of attending a panel discussion which looked at sustainability and the circular economy in the fashion industry. The panel considered the issues posed by smart textiles and fabrics and answered key questions like "what is circular fashion?" and "how can fashion businesses redesign for sustainability?" The panel included: Joanna Dai, the founder of DAI, a fashion business which combines technical fabrics with tailoring to create comfortable and ea

Aug 24, 2018
2 min

What is a trade mark?

Trade marks give you the exclusive right to use a particular "sign" in your business for particular goods and services. They can potentially last forever provided that you keep using the trade mark and keep paying fees to the relevant intellectual property office. What is a sign? A sign is anything which distinguishes one business from other business. Commonly this is a word or a logo but in Europe, it can be anything provided it can be recorded in some form of permanent medi

Aug 23, 2018
2 min

How to create a new brand (legally)

This post is about the legal issues you need to consider when selecting a new brand name and logo. This is primarily a question of trade mark law. There are three main things to consider: Does it meet the criteria for a trade mark? Has anyone else registered it as a trade mark first? Will it pose any problems for me in the future? Trade marks must be distinctive and not generic descriptions of the products sold. As post-modern as a hat brand called HAT may be - you are very u

Aug 21, 2018
2 min

Setting a price in a European contract

It is common to want to fix a price for goods. It provides you and your customers with certainty and means that you avoid disgruntled business partners who find out that one of their competitors got a better deal. There are two major issues to watch out for: Competition law Price fixing is a classic example of anti-competitive behaviour. The bigger your market share, the greater the impact that this price fixing will have on the market - and the more likely this your activiti

Aug 21, 2018
2 min

European contracts - part two

Defining terms Definitions make contracts easier to read. They are often known as "defined terms" and are a mini dictionary at the start of a contract. This means that, for example, rather than repeating the specific trade mark which is licensed, the "Trade Mark" is defined at the start and then the contract can simply refer to the Trade Mark in the rest of the document. Defined terms can save a lot of reading time and improve simplicity but if you get the definition wrong,

Aug 18, 2018
3 min

How to start a fashion business

When you start a new fashion business, there are lots of competing interests for your time. You want to get finance to pay for stock and staff. But you also need to start marketing and build your social media profile. Before long, you will need to start thinking about hiring your first employee. So many things to do and so little time! Each question has legal consequences which it is good to understand in advance... One of the first things you will need to think about is wher

Aug 18, 2018
1 min

Intellectual property rights - it's never too early to think about them

Fashion is built on intellectual property rights. The brand is protected by trade marks. The clothing and accessory design by design rights and (maybe) copyright. The advertising and website will include lots of copyright works including photographs and computer code. If you wait too long to think about intellectual property you may find that there is an expensive reckoning waiting for you. This may mean that you need to rebrand or pay a photographer a lot of money down the l

Aug 16, 2018
2 min

Introducing the European Union

The European Union or EU is the political and economic union of 28 European countries who are known as "Member States". The EU has helped to shape the laws across the majority of Europe over the last 50 years. EU law is based on four fundamental principles. All EU laws have one or more of these principles at their heart: Free movement of goods Free movement of people Free movement of services Free movement of capital The European Union has three main elements: the Parliament,