Magazine published on law and fashion

Law firm DLA Piper has published a magazine called Law à la Mode, in which Intellectual Property (IP) rights and the fashion industry come together. Just recently, DLA published the autumn edition with a focus on Europe. Several topics come along such as new relevant European regulations, European case law, advertizing without misleading the consumer and tips for using social media.

Finally, the fashion industry gets the legal attention it needs. Many fashion items are protected by IP-rights, such as copyrights, design rights and trademark rights. There is also a lot of case law about this topic, since this industry often litigates on (bad) imitations and counterfeited products such as clothing and shoes. These products are often copyright protected, because they are original and creative. Copyright protected fashion items are, for instance, the Louboutin stiletto-heeled shoes with the red soles, on which we have reported previously on FutureofCopyright. Moreover, this industry often claims the design rights on the model or design of the products, such as the model of Crocs shoes. By the way, ‘taste’ is not a requirement for design rights… In addition, almost all major fashion companies acquire their own trademark to distinguish and protect their product. An example thereof is Ralph Lauren’s horse trade mark.

This magazine is a great initiative to inform designers on recent developments in the IP field, so they can respond to these developments in an early stage and protect their IP-rights in the most ultimate way.

You can read the magazine here.

Reference: DLA Piper