Intellectual Property Law

Knockoff News 79Counterfeit Chic

A periodic collection of news about counterfeits, fakes, knockoffs, replicas, imitations, and the culture of copying in general around the globe:

• United South Africa: Country's designers decry lack of IP protection for emerging fashion
• Not tough enough: Uganda vows to strengthen legal penalties on counterfeit sellers
• False charity: His Church sends seized fakes to Africa
• Hard candy: M&Ms accuses Naked Cowboy of fraud in USPTO claim (See related post.)
• Begorrah: Ireland sees rise in counterfeit imports
• Publicity stunt: Ksubi copies Google look for site
• Alphabet soup: INTA joins ICC in calling for concrete ACTA action
• Harper's bazaar: Are fashion magazines to blame for fakes?
• Desert storm: Saudi Commerce Minister fights inflation, counterfeits
• Double trouble: Dubai launches bilingual anti-counterfeit website
• Himaya.ae

• Gulf stream: Bahrain drafts new anti-counterfeiting legislation
• 80/20 rule: Most EU fakes come from China
• Expense account: "Fakes cost more" is theme of EU anti-fake summit
• C'est Bon: Supermodel speaks out against fakes
• Hot wheels:  Fake Ferrari steals the show  (Thanks, Camilla Abder!)
• Messy and beautiful: Kosovo symbolized by new constitution, shepherds in fake D&G
• Hot off the press: UK company claims up to 90% of eBay goods are fakes
• Risky business: Latest SEC filing by eBay notes potential impact of fake items on profits
• Legal eagles: Law firm helps North London football club fight fakes
• Stolen treats: Another bite taken out of Johnny Cupcakes

• Mind games:  Surreal heels hard to copy
• Pencils down:  Note-taking reporter suspected of design piracy
• Culture jamming: Fake ads in NYC parody American Apparel billboard porn (NSFW!)
• Butterfly kiss-off: Does Zova women's fashion infringe on Zovo Lingerie?
• Bildungsroman: New book examines trademarks and Chinese piracy
• Borrowing against the future? Likelihood of Confusion offers dire prediction  (Counterfeit Chic hopes otherwise, having recommended Bag Borrow or Steal to budget-minded fashionisti on more than one occasion!)
• Bad week for VIP escorts: WIPO orders transfer of prada-girls.com to Prada
• Mauled: Polar bear "Flocke" wins trademark dispute with candy company
• Not worth it: PTO rules against L'Oreal Paris in beverage dispute
• Pit stop: NASCAR hopes to boost souvenir sales thru counterfeit crackdown
• Snagged: New York Magazine reports on the Design Piracy Prohibition Act
• Worms in the Big Apple: Canal St. fake sellers back after raid
• Old ground: Terranova says it is cooperating with NYPD, Mayor's Office
• Rebel alliance: NYU student supports Canal St. in subverting economic system
• To buy or not to buy: Southern Illinois student paper mulls over knockoffs
• Selling out: Student paper concludes that money makes knockoffs inevitable
• Cross-pollination: Fakes and flowers in LA's fashion district
• Consumer report: Why fake bags don't measure up
• New Jersey deviled: Senate approves new anti-counterfeiting legislation
• Sunshine law: Florida AG touts new anti-counterfeiting bill
• Sic semper falsis: Counterfeit sellers may soon face jail time in Virginia
• Consilience: Fake fashion connected to harmful crime
• Police report
• Fake sellers unlucky in Dublin
• Agencies converge in Ohio raid
• Blazing a trail in Virginia
• South Carolina ramps up Operation Strike Force on Interstates
• Spanish Customs announces record haul
• Truck stopped in Florida
• Calgary retailer fined
• Crackdown in Southampton, UK
• Seized counterfeits on display in Toronto
• UK seller pleads guilty
• Fake Burberry shoes in the "fashion crime of the century"

And finally, publicity for the Sex and the City movie is well underway, but one assumes that Sarah Jessica Parker didn't authorize this particular product tie-in.  As for some of the similarly replicated actresses, singers, and celebutantes -- who knows?  (Polite pixelating courtesy of Defamer.)

• Pop tarts: Blow-up dolls knock off celebrity starlets

Full post as published by IP Law Daily on March 19, 2008 (boomark / email).