Intellectual Property Law

Hells Angels Sue to Protect Trademark ?Death Head?

By driscoll

“The highways are crowded with people who drive as if their sole purpose in getting behind the wheel is to avenge every wrong done them by man, beast or fate.  The only thing that keeps them in line is their fear of death, jail and lawsuits.”
? Hunter S. Thompson (Hell’s Angels)

The famous (or infamous) motorcycle club is serving up a little fear to keep an unlikely group in line, the world of couture?s Alexander McQueen fashion house.  In a complaint filed Monday in a California federal court, the Hells Angels Motorcycle Corporation alleges that the Alexander McQueen brand, owned by France?s PPR luxury group, breached trademark protection by misusing the Angels? trademarked winged death?s head symbol.  The suit against McQueen, and retailers Saks and Zappos, cites trademark infringement and dilution, alleging that McQueen?s ?Hells Four-Finger Ring,? ?Hells Knuckle Duster? handbag, ?Hells Angels Jacquard Box Dress? and ?Hells Angels Pashmina? bear designs ?confusingly similar? to the Hells Angels? ?Death Head? logo ? essentially, a skull with wings.  The case is Hells Angels Motorcycle Corp. v. Alexander McQueen Trading Ltd., 10-08029, U.S. District Court, Central District of California (Los Angeles).

Full post as published by BC Law Intell. Prop. & Tech. Forum on October 27, 2010 (boomark / email).