The products that apparently copied Gucci’s signature webbing include a metallic bomber jacket, a butterfly jumper, a green tiger motif jumper and a choker.
Gucci officially filed a lawsuit against American fast fashion retail Forever 21 a few days ago for allegedly imitating their trademark ‘blue-red-blue’ and ‘green-red-green’ stripe designs.
This came both as a response to dismiss Forever 21’s complaint of Gucci’s threat of trademark litigation, and as counterclaims for trademark infringement, trademark dilution and unfair competition.
The legal battle started back in December last year, when the Italian luxury fashion house sent the first of three cease-and-desist letters demanding the discontinuation of all Forever 21 products bearing Gucci’s three-stripe design. The products that apparently copied Gucci’s signature webbing include a metallic bomber jacket, a butterfly jumper, a green tiger motif jumper and a choker.
Last June, however, Forever 21 shockingly hit back by filing a complaint against Gucci with the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California. The complaint stated that “Gucci should not be allowed to claim that Gucci, alone, has a monopoly on all blue-red-blue and green-red-green striped clothing and accessory items.”
“Despite Forever 21’s attempt to use its lawsuit to intimidate Gucci into ceasing its trademark enforcement efforts, Gucci is as committed as ever to protecting its long established intellectual property rights, which are at the heart of the brand’s identity, and to ending once and for all Forever 21’s reprehensible exploitation of its distinctive trademarks and those of other brands who have suffered the same type of piracy,” Gucci said in a statement released to Refinery 29.
While Forever 21 has yet to respond to the latest turn of events, we doubt this will be over anytime soon.
Images: Courtesy of Gucci and Polyvore