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Levi?s in Trademark Fight with Dolce & Gabbana Over Jeans

By Stephanie Robinson

On January 10, 2011, Levi Strauss filed a lawsuit against Dolce & Gabbana based on claims that the Italian fashion icon infringed Levi?s registered, vertical-pocket-tag and pocket-stitching trademarks. Levi?s also alleged that D&G?s designs constitute a breach of a 1998 settlement agreement that the parties had signed to resolve an earlier dispute resolving the same trade dress issues in dispute in this new litigation. Samples of the designs registered by Levi?s and the designs sold by D&G are included in the complaint, a copy of which is available here. D&G has yet to answer Levi?s allegations. Fashion-oriented goods are famously prone to claims of trade-dress infringement. The labels themselves are undoubtedly important, but even in this case, it is not so much a question of what those labels look like as it is a question of where those labels are placed on the product. To a much greater extent than for many other kinds of goods and services, brand value for fashion products is inherently dependent on the public?s recognition of the goods themselves ? rather than on the logos or standard-character trademarks that may applied to those goods ? as being indicative of their source or quality. Registration of trade dress with the USPTO often is vital to empowering a business in that industry to protect its intellectual property, in that it gives an aggrieved designer substantial legal leverage, both in and out of court, in achieving a favorable outcome. However, trade dress registration can be a somewhat more challenging process than registration of a more ?traditional? trademark. It typically makes sense to seek the advice or assistance of knowledgeable IP counsel in pursuing that kind of protection.

Full post as published by Business and Technology Law on January 20, 2011 (boomark / email).