Cultural Appropriation of Indigenous Designs in Fashion: Can this be Prevented by Canadian IP Law?

From trademarking your logo to potentially patenting your items (a newer – yet narrowly used – method of protecting your unique fashion designs), there are various ways that start-ups and young companies in Canada can protect their intellectual property (IP) prior to diving into the competitive realm of fashion. Unfortunately, the Canadian fashion industry has […]

Virgil Abloh’s “Trademark”

Virgil Abloh, the Creative Director of fashion house Off-White and currently one of the biggest designers in the fashion industry, may have some important legal decisions to make in the near future. Abloh has been using quotation marks around everything he associates with the Off-White brand. Whether it is a design feature on a shoe, a […]

The Imminent Problem of Counterfeit Sports Merchandise

Counterfeit products are a growing issue and have resulted in an annual estimated loss of $20-30 billion in tax revenue for Canada over the past few years. In particular, the rise in counterfeit sports merchandise has been almost uncontrollable.

Fashionable Rip-Offs: Independent Artists Accuse Fashion Giant Zara of Copying Their Work

A lot of fashion seems to look the same; such is the nature of trends and functionality. Sometimes the similarities go much further. Fashion behemoth Zara (among others) is no stranger to accusations it copied other designers’ styles. The company is in that spotlight again: this time thanks to assertions that it blatantly ripped off […]

Ain't No Laurent Without Some Irony: Hedi Slimane and the Rise of Parody Fashion

Some may say that there is no Laurent without Yves, but Hedi Slimane is definitely not one of them. Luxury Goods International (LGI), the owner of Saint Laurent Paris’ trademarks, is suing Jeanine Heller, founder of What About Yves, for trademark infringement, trademark dilution, false designation of origin and unfair competition. Her parody t-shirts had […]

Trade Dress: Redress for Handbag Theft (of the Non-Mugging Variety)

Knockoffs run rampant in the retail and fashion industries. For those of us that are fashion-forward but not looking to incur debilitating debt, we resign ourselves to settling for the closest lookalike. But while these products may save us some money, it is usually at the expense of designers from whose unique and original work […]

End of the Road for Christian Louboutin v. Yves Saint Laurent

The re-posting of this analysis is part of a collaboration with Ashlee Froese. It appears that fashion's most infamous case has finally come to a close. Both parties seemingly came away from the Appeal decision satisfied: Christian Louboutin's trade-mark registration remained valid and exclusivity was maintained with respect to red soles with contrasting shoes; Yves Saint Laurent was […]

Mon Dieu: Chanel Accused of Counterfeiting

France is known for its fashion.  Perhaps more importantly within the fashion world, France is known as being one of the last remaining champions of the petites mains: highly skilled tailors and seamstresses that are the “behind the scenes” technicians to Europe’s most notorious haute couture fashion houses.  In a surprising David v. Goliath decision, […]

Louboutin v. YSL Forced to Agree to Disagree

The fashion law community has been carefully watching Christian Louboutin and Yves Saint Laurent battle over red-soled shoes. At first, the twitter-verse heralded this decision as a definitive win for Christian Louboutin. However, on closer examination this appears to be more of a win-win (or a lose-lose) situation. Ultimately, co-existence is the name of the […]

Motion For Summary Judgment By Madonna’s Material Girl Brand Fails To Materialize

Satomi Aki is a JD candidate at Osgoode Hall Law School. Ever since Madonna launched her clothing line, Material Girl, in August 2010, it has been plagued by a trademark infringement suit. Two weeks after the line went on sale exclusively at Macy’s Department Stores in the United States, LA Triumph Inc filed a lawsuit […]