New York (AP) – Fashion “Dupes,” or a less expensive version of high-level clothing and other accessories, these days are everywhere. Some enterprises also draw in legal battles.
In the most recent example, Lululemon filed a lawsuit against Costco On Friday, the wholesale club operator, who sells low-valuable duplicates of some of the popular atletic clothing.
In the retail industry, it is far from a new phenomenon. However, social media pushes the evening culture to new peaks in new summits to new summits, because the impositions focused on where they can buy KnockOffs. Hermes’ $ 1000 Want the taste of fuzzy slippers? The target has a version of $ 15. 2800 Price Looking for Bottega Veneta Hobo Bag? There is a version for $ 99 in online clothing and accessories that have become a road for fashionists.
The first time that Lululemon’s dress is the first time, which is the first time, which is the first time, which is said to be a steep price labels, which is said to the KnockOffs, often more than $ 100 for leggings and sports zip-ups. Not showing additional vendors outside Costco to the Friday complaint, Lululemon, a handful of companies such as Lululemondues, including “repetitive or copied”, including Hashtags, including “repetitive or copied” true and other social media platforms.
Dupes are not new
For years, companies have a series of cheaper choices to buy instead of consumer valuable name brands or designer labels, often through retailer’s home or common brands. Unauthorized brand of a patented brand, unlike more direct copies of the product with an unauthorized trademark or logo, “pure” dupes that are similar to certain features are generally legal. They can cause awareness about the original items.
But especially in the fashion space, many recipients want a luxury flavor, but do not want to pay for (or take care of) the real thing (or take care of) unwanted)
Last year, for example, a discount chain Walmart created a noise when he began selling a leather bag that looks like Hermes’s coveted Birkin bag. The $ 78 item sold by Kamugo, who did not own a web site, was part of the original price, which is 9,000 to a dollar, up to hundreds of thousands of dollars and to auction sites. Those who influenced the skin bag were labeled “Wirkin”. Other suppliers, including BESTSPR, YMTQ and JUDY, were also listed in selling similar tones on the Walmart’s website.
Although it is popular among buyers, such image colleagues can disappoint the target companies. Hermès executive Axel Dumas, for example, shared an annoyance.
“It is quite disgusting to make a copy like this,” Dumas called on corporate earnings in February. Again, so many consumers said, “It touched” and said that “the quality difference” is still clear that this is still clear.
While communication to the uncertain legal area
Alexandra Roberts, a professor of law and media law and media in the North-East, said he did not say much about the illegality.
However, in general, if a violation of Dupes, copy rights and trade marketers, especially if a duplicate claim of the duplicate market engineer or the original, the martyr may transfer to the legal territory of the martyr.
“We will enter some thorny questions, especially in fashion,” Roberts said. This includes what the intellectual property rights are and how much it is executed, explained or actually violated or “placed oneself in a cheaper alternative.”
Most of the time, such controversing reduces the trading brand questions around consumer confusion or patented product designs. Several enterprises have already tested it, but not always successful.
In December, for example, the benefits of the claim that the IF 29 dollars of the IF resembling the Lash of the AlF, the elfin, lost a claim on the 6-dollar lashes’ N roll. The judge’s decision was “a noisy victory for us”, E.Lf. CEO Tarang Amen, explained to the previously related press.
“The main reality always puts our elf twist.” “This is an elf product with a better value.”
Lululemon sues the kostoy
Lululemon claimed that Lululemon’s reputation of Lululemon and “focused on retailers to compete” as part of the more width property bodies. “
Mull
lulhemon accuses the costume of duplicates Identify several products, jackets and abc pants, including popular scuba headlines. Lululemon says Costco is a complete zip with a claim that shows the image of one of the duplicates sold by Hi-Tec Men Scuba, the image of a Costco’s website from $ 19.97.
Roberts said some of the allegations of some Lululon’s claims were “little skeptical.” Especially design patents could be difficult to protest. And Lululonem pointed out the general law in the “triangle form” of the ABC pants in the Krotch area.
“My first reaction as a trademark expert is very functional,” he said, and the functional substance is not protected based on the trading brand law. “I just had a limited claim because this special claim seemed really far away. He seems really basic.”
However, Roberts Lululemon said that some acceptable claims.
Lululemon claims that it is known to use producers of famous branded products for Costco’s special label, although companies do not openly reveal this information to customers. Thanks to this, Lululemon claims that some recipients were prepared by the original supplier of “original” products of Kirkland products.
Roberts said this could “be able to manage the” causing consumer confusion “in Lululemon’s grace. However, the majority of products did not sell Lululemon under the Kirkland brand that could disrupt the dispute.
The message remained a message looking for comments from Costco on Tuesday’s claim.
Lululemon was found in a similar dispute with Peloton in 2021, which announced “CopyCat products” allegedly allegedly “CopyCat products” in new clothing lines. Two years later companies announced one five-year partnership This was the main sportswear partner to Lululemon’s Peloton.
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AP Business Writer Michel Chapman contributed to this report.
