Thursday, July 26, 2007

A Tattletale of Two Civvies

In Europe, thanks to a change in intellectual property law, a simple black (or, in this case, yellow) dress gets complicated:

Topshop has destroyed hundreds of dresses after an exclusive French fashion house claimed they were near-identical copies of one of its far more expensive items.

The high street chain has pulled all of its stocks - almost 2,000 dresses - of the £35 yellow mini dungaree dress from the rails after Chloé alleged it was unfairly similar to the £185 number in its See collection.

....Chloé, a label worn by Hollywood stars such as Natalie Portman and Kirsten Dunst, has now adopted a “zero-tolerance” attitude to what it regards as cheap copies being made of its sought-after and expensive clothes, and is currently making claims against a series of other well-known shops.

Its lawyers are known to scour fashion magazines - which often advise readers on how to get exclusive designs on the cheap - for evidence of copycat clothes as well as snooping around high-street stores.

They believe the cheap copies risk losing Chloé money but also offend its wealthy customers, who do not want to see hundreds of women wearing the same styles for which they have paid huge amounts.

....A recent widening of intellectual property rights law has helped fashion houses take on rivals over claims of copycat clothes.

Labels once had to prove an entire item was novel or distinctive for them to prove a rival had infringed their design rights.

But after a change in European regulation five years ago, designers only now need show that one feature - such as a buckle or a neckline - is novel or distinctive, or that the combination of unremarkable parts makes the whole item novel.

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