Think of this as "fashion intellectual property law for dummies."We will level with you guys: Understanding intellectual property issues in fashion is seriously challenging. It's a field of law that is complicated for even practiced lawyers, let alone fashion journalists and designers — which means that sometimes, despite our best efforts, we can get mixed up on the details in stories about copyright and trademark infringements.
What Fashion Items are Protectable by Copyright?That being said, there are some exceptions within the copyright area that do apply to fashion, and are actually really important to fashion companies. One is jewelry. Jewelry is not functional; jewelry is merely decorative. It doesn't cover your body. It doesn't keep you warm.
The thing about copyright protection is that it's automatic. There are some advantages to registering your copyright, but you have copyright protection even if you don't do it through the registration process. Patents, however, are expensive and time-consuming. You usually need a patent attorney. The average patents typically take two years to issue, which in fashion time is quite long.
TrademarkWhat Is It, and How Do You Get It?[Patents] are a very strong form of protection, but they have a limited use in fashion, which is why a lot of fashion companies and designers default to trademark protection. Trademark protection typically can't protect an entire garment or accessory, but at least you can protect the logo or the label.
Trade Dress Protection The last category is a special category of trademark known as trade dress protection. It was initially for product packaging — something like Tiffany's little blue boxes. There's product configuration trade dress, something like the Louboutin red soles that are part of the actual product.
Counterfeit versus InfringementPeople misuse the word counterfeit. We only use the word counterfeit when it comes to trademarks, when it's a really exact copy of a trademark. Sometimes you see, for example, the Louis Vuitton toile; you see a bag that's brown, and tan, and has little flowers on it; it doesn't have LVs or anything like that, but it looks alike from across the street. When you get close, it's just a really bad fake.
[Sometimes, people think] it must be okay because you see lots of copies out there. Well, no; just because you see a lot of copies out there doesn't mean you won't be the one to get the letter or that companies aren't enforcing. The analogy that trademark lawyers and IP lawyers use all the time is that it's a game of whack-a-mole: You slap it down one place, it pops up another.
• Confronting those Fears • Addressing those Stereotypes • Dispelling those Myths A generation long issue that needs to be addressed. Let’s Change the Narrative 🏊🏾♀️🏊🏼♀️🏊🏿♀️ BLM SPEEDO TheBSA Swim