Question

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1- In continuing your understanding of IP protection you are to research the concept of trade dress and how this was a factor in the case of Knitwaves vs Lolly Togs. What was the basis of the case and what was the outcome.

2- Research the case of Louis Vuitton vs Dooney & Burke and post your understanding of the IP violation that was involved and what was the outcome?

3- Currently there are many discussions revolving around social influencers and their effect on the success of various brands. Name someone you identify as an influencer and why you are labeling that person in this role - what real results can you attribute to this person?

4- Recently many retail brands have announced the closing of a large number of their brick and mortar stores due to sales issues. What would you do if you were in charge to halt the continuing losses? How would you lead your company to successfully counter the Amazon and Fast Fashion challenges?  

Answer 1

1. In 1992 the Knitwaves filed a case against one of its competitor Lolly Togs for copying one of its sweater product for girls.The two products named "Leaf Sweater" and "Squirrel cardigan" were the patented design of Knitwaves.It followed the Trade Dress act where the packaging or labelling of a product but the overall appearance of the product.The sweaters were introduced in 1990 by Knitwaves and similar type of product was launched by Lolly Togs un 1992.Knitwaves sued Lollytogs in the Southern District of New York for copyright infringement and for unfair competition under the Lanham Act (Trade Dress)and New York law.The squirrel and leaf design was the original design of Knitwanes but as the other company launched a similar product with a similar appearance with less cost it was forced to decrease its cost to maintain sells level.

Finally, the decision was made by the court and the court found that the Lollytogs illegally copied the design of the sweaters and fined $12000 in this matter as a loss profit.

2. In 2003 Louis Vuitton(LV) launched handbags of different designs.This design consisted of LV’s original, registered Toile Monogram trademark in an array of thirty-three colours (the "Murakami colours") arranged on a white or black background (collectively, the "Monogram Multicolore mark").In the same year, Dooney & Bourke (DB) introduced a line of handbags an small leather goods with a set of nine colours in the white background and the "DB" monogram printed in seven colours on a black background.LV filed a case against Db for trademark or Intellectual property infringement.

To take any decision regarding the claim by LV the court ordered several tests which can identify the strength of the marks and similarity of two marks. But, unfortunately, the court found LV's claim of marks could not pass the tests.LV again appealed to the district court and the court ordered some trademark test to test the trademark value in customer. After several tests, the court found though there is some similarity in the emblem of both the products the DB logo is clearly understood by the consumer and not at all changing the perception of the consumer.So the court granted DB's motion.

3. I found Jay Shetty, a social influencer from a video forwarded to me some days back.He is a nice orator with an impressive personality.His talks are very thoughtful and influencing a lot of persons in the world. A lot of followers on youtube and a national geographic icon made him very famous these days.His sessions on how to become successful and about relationships attracting a lot of eyeballs.These kind of personality are attracting big brands today to take them as a marketing platform in social media like Instagram and Facebook.As the followers are very high in number they can easily advertise their product by the influencers. Only wearing their brands by the influencer will make people follow the bran, Its a new strategy of marketing a product and to reach the social media.

4. As the digital revolution has made it very easy to reach customer without using two to three echelons of a suply chain now fashion brands are tryig to sell their products online and closing down their physical stores. But to halt the continuing losses we can adopt some models from the online platforms like Amazon and Alibaba to create our own fashion channels on the internet.Offering a new look strategy at stores to attract youth can be possible where the customer can come to store and can be a cover for a fashion magazine which will increase the store's popularity.Creating a system through which customers can book online and pick up from stores will increase the store value and the revenue too where they can check the products online and at the same time if they like one product can come to stores nearby and check the size and fittings physically which is not possible online.