By Tamar Duvdevani (NY), Airina Rodrigues (NY) and Michael Geller (Chicago) Interview with Melissa Schoffer Farber, SoulCycle’s Senior Director of Legal Affairs To describe New York-based SoulCycle as a company offering indoor cycling classes is a serious understatement. While SoulCycle does tout 90 locations in the US and Canada, with a growing international presence, the … Continue Reading
By Melinda Upton and Claire Kermond (Sydney) In the retail and fashion industries, names and marks are a key element of the marketing strategies and longevity of brands. Using generic marks or names can land retailers and fashion designers in trouble when it comes to successfully trademarking and protecting their brand.… Continue Reading
By Ann Ford, James Stewart and Naomi Abraham (Washington D.C.) Native advertising, which is an advertisement that follows the natural function and form of the user experience in which it is placed, has captured the attention of the US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and marketers alike for its ability to blur the lines between editorial … Continue Reading
By Tamar Duvdevani On March 22, 2017, in a 6-2 decision authored by Justice Thomas, the United States Supreme Court ruled that the designs on Varsity Brands’ cheerleading uniforms are eligible for copyright protection. The crux of this decision relates to the fact that the United States Copyright Act treats the copyrightability of “useful articles” … Continue Reading
By: Ming Lok Lam* and Susheela Rivers* (Hong Kong) In Hong Kong, reports have shown that the retail market is beginning to revive in the second half of 2016. This is unsurprising given the undeniable fact that Hong Kong is unique in real estate given that space is scarce and demand rarely decreases.… Continue Reading
By James Clark (Leeds) Most of us are familiar with the many ways in which customer activity can be tracked in the online space. Customer accounts, cookies, web beacons and tracking pixels are familiar tools in the e-commerce arsenal, and all come with familiar challenges from a privacy and data protection perspective. Increasingly, retailers are … Continue Reading
By Alexandra Kamerling and Marianna Kinsella (London) Background The European Commission’s Digital Single Market Strategy was designed to put Europe at the forefront of the digital economy. To achieve this, the European Commission has recognised the need to reduce barriers to cross-border e-commerce within the EU. On September 15, 2016, the Commission published its Preliminary … Continue Reading
By Sandra Bell (Washington, DC) Your latest shipment of imports is detained at the border. You are told that your goods are not being allowed admission to the US because they were produced, in whole or in part, with forced labor. But these are the same products you’ve been importing, in pretty much the same … Continue Reading
By Gurpreet Duhra, Lisa Hodgson and Matthew Jeavons (Sheffield and Birmingham) The recent Brexit outcome has led to a degree of uncertainty in UK consumer markets. How will the Brexit decision impact future UK employment prospects?… Continue Reading
By: Richard Taylor and Alasdair Muller (United Kingdom) The English Court of Appeal has confirmed that, in the UK, the sale or distribution of trade mark goods outside an authority granted by the trade mark holder can constitute a criminal offence (R v C and others, applying Trade Marks Act 1994 (the “Act”) s92(1)*). Possession with … Continue Reading
By: Melinda Upton and Josephine Gardiner When e-commerce initially established itself in the Australian marketplace, industry experts predicted the imminent death of brick and mortar – physical retail stores.… Continue Reading
By Josephine Gardiner (Sydney) Australia’s best-known horse racing event, the Melbourne Cup is on today. The race is known to stop the nation… but that’s not all they’re stopping for! Floral frocks, feathers and fascinators – the event is a real life fashion show with its own catwalk known as ‘Fashions on the Field’. The … Continue Reading
By Sara Balice and Elena Varese (Milan) A number of fashion players base their business on the very thin line running between tribute and misappropriation. In this context, it is difficult to understand how quotations of well-known fashion trademarks made with humorous intent should be treated, especially as European Union legislation has not provided any … Continue Reading
By Farid Bouguettaya and Karine Disdier-Mikus (Paris) Have you ever compared products or services when contemplating a purchase? Companies, whenever they can, also strive to mark themselves out from their competitors to gain a competitive advantage and new clients. In an internal market where competition is highly encouraged by the European Union, comparative advertising has … Continue Reading
By Ulrike Gruebler (Hamburg) and Gaspard Debiesse (Paris) To stay ahead of the competition, players of the fashion industry have a permanent need to renew their communication strategies, including the use of new technologies and media. “Sensory marketing”, the art of playing on the various senses of the customers (sound, smell, taste, touch, in addition, … Continue Reading
By Ruth Hoy and Emily Leach (London) Designing under your own name is a natural, even intuitive choice for many designers and is an established practice in the fashion industry. To protect their brand, designers often register their own name as a trade mark. Associating your own name with your designs has many advantages, but … Continue Reading
By Justyna Wilczynska-Baraniak and Aleksandra Baczykowska (Warsaw) In the fashion industry, tags and labels are a key element of the end product. Therefore, the change of Regulation 2015/2424 and Directive 2008/95/EC of 16 December 2015 is an important step in combating trademark infringement. By deploying these preventive measures, a trademark infringement may be interrupted at … Continue Reading
By Leonie Kroon and Anne Voerman (Amsterdam) When taking action against illegal fake goods, you are no longer limited to goods destined for the EU. The new EU trademark rules introduce the right to take action against all goods at EU borders even when they are in transit (Article 9(4) of Regulation (EU) 2015/2424, and … Continue Reading
By Ann K. Ford (New York) and James Stewart (Washington, DC) Fashion brands are recognized and loved by consumers for their ingenuity and innovative approach to apparel and accessories. Loyal consumers gravitate to high-quality products produced by a fashion brand and are eager to acquire these exclusive goods. Once earned, consumers’ enthusiasm, loyalty, and trust … Continue Reading
By Ruth Hoy and Chloe Hersee Interview with Amba Jackson (born 26 May 1995), an artist and fashion designer currently studying at the Pratt Institute in Brooklyn. Amba was born in London before moving to Ibiza shortly after her first birthday. There she went to Morna International College until the age of 10 when she … Continue Reading
By Tamar Duvdevani Last month, in our piece about the pending Supreme Court case Varsity Brands, Inc. v. Star Athletica, LLC, we took a close look at the copyright protection afforded to useful articles (https://www.remarksblog.com/2016/05/cheerleading-uniforms-and-copyright-uniformity-when-is-a-useful-articles-artistic-aspects-amenable-to-copyright-protection/). The Star Athletica case relates to copyright infringement of cheerleading uniforms, and, in particular, the geometric designs that appear on … Continue Reading
By Robert Russell (Manchester), Rowan Aspinwall and Emily Leach (London) The fashion industry is not impervious to the threats presented by changing consumer behaviour, vulnerable economic conditions and resource scarcity. It is a turbulent time for fashion retailers, who can suddenly find themselves in financial distress somewhere on a spectrum between a simple refinance or … Continue Reading
By Tamar Duvdevani Federal courts have long addressed when and if aspects of functional items can be subject to copyright protection. In the United States, “useful articles” such as lighting fixtures, furniture, appliances, and apparel, are generally not afforded copyright protection, and a plaintiff seeking recourse for misappropriation would need to look to trademark and … Continue Reading
By Carol A.F. Umhoefer (New York) Gone are the days when the CCTV outside the dressing room was only there to dissuade – or help prosecute – shoplifters. Bricks-and-mortar retailers are increasingly moving from the real world to the virtual world as they collect more and more data about current and would-be customers, and engage … Continue Reading
