Gucci v Guess on Trademark Infringement: Guess Wins Again
In the continuing fight between Gucci v Guess, Guess has prevailed in a trademark infringement lawsuit filed in France by Gucci. The French court found no trademark infringement, no counterfeiting, and no unfair competition. The court denied Gucci’s request for approximately $62 million and instead ordered Gucci to pay Guess approximately $34,000. The French court also nullified one of Gucci’s logos. This is the second victory for Guess, which also successfully defended itself in a suit brought in Italy. In 2013, the Italian court rejected all claims by Gucci and cancelled three Italian trademarks and four trademarks covering the European community.
In Gucci v Guess Lawsuits, Guess Has Only Lost Once
Guess has lost one trademark fight against Gucci so far. In 2012, a New York court ruled that Guess infringed four of Gucci’s trademarks. Although the court found dilution of some trademarks, the court determined that there was no counterfeiting because “courts have uniformly restricted trademark counterfeiting claims to those situations where entire products have been copied stitch-for-stitch.” Based on the findings, the court ordered Guess to pay $4.7 million. This amount was less than the $124 million Gucci sought and a relatively small amount compared to the almost $2.7 billion Guess made in 2011.
Gucci’s Failure to Litigate Quickly Results in Low Damages Award
The New York court based its relatively low damages decision on at least one critical fact: Gucci waited over ten years – until 2009 – to file the case. Additionally, Gucci and Guess had similar advertising budgets and had stores near each other. The New York court did not appear to give significant weight to emails from Guess’ footwear provider, who made several references to Gucci products from 1995 through 2008 and made at least one reference to replicating the Gucci fabric sample for the logo patterns for the Guess shoes.
Gucci is currently appealing all three of the courts’ decisions.
Sources: http://fashionista.com/2015/02/french-court-rejects-gucci-trademark-claims-against-guess-paris-france http://fashionista.com/2015/02/french-court-rejects-gucci-trademark-claims-against-guess-paris-france http://investors.guess.com/phoenix.zhtml?c=92506&p=irol-newsArticle&ID=1815153 http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/02/02/gucci-guess-ruling-idUSL4N0VC5AF20150202 http://fashionista.com/2012/04/fashion-law-order-the-guess-vs-gucci-battle-gets-ugly-in-court
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