Last summer, fashion designer Moriah Carlson noticed a woman wearing a dress printed with a series of crosshatched, tepee-type slashes pass by her on the street in Brooklyn. Ms. Carlson recognized the garment's print—it was a copyrighted design she and her business partner,Just go ahead and try and shop around for rolexuhrenshop. Alice Wu, had created for the 2009 collection of their Brooklyn-based clothing label, Feral Childe. But the dress was unfamiliar.
After running into a colleague wearing the same item, Ms. Carlson discovered that Forever 21, the Los Angeles-based mass-market discount store, was selling its own line of tepee-printed apparel.
"We had gotten some great press from that collection, but we never thought we would see it in this context," said Ms. Wu, who along with Ms. Carlson is embroiled in a copyright infringement lawsuit with Forever 21. The retailer did not respond to calls requesting comment.
Trend goes mainstream
Knockoff designs, whether hanging on the racks at chain stores like Forever 21 and Urban Outfitters or selling via e-commerce sites, have graduated from back alleys to Main Street. Retail lawyers blame the increased use of the Internet as a shopping tool, as well as the shift in production from local facilities to overseas factories in countries such as China, where retailers have less control over manufacturing.
Each year, U.S. designers lose hundreds of millions of dollars from sales of copycat products, including handbags, printed apparel and jewelry. Many brands, such as Coach, employ entire departments to police the Internet and the brick-and-mortar landscape for counterfeits, while several apparel designers are working hard to win passage of legislation in Congress to protect their styles.
"The biggest thing is the Internet," said Susan Scafidi, academic director of the Fashion Law Institute at Fordham University School of Law. "Years ago, you used to have to sneak into a fashion show in Paris, then come back out and sketch from memory. Now the images are available instantaneously."
Fighting to protect your designs can be prohibitively expensive for all but the biggest companies. For Feral Childe, which generates less than $1 million in annual revenue, monitoring the masses for copycat looks is a near impossibility—it's simply too costly. But not so for Coach Inc. The $4.2 billion handbag company, along with Louis Vuitton and Chanel, is one of the most copied brands in the world. Each year, Coach spends millions of dollars to prevent counterfeit activity.
Investigators on the job
Three years ago, the Manhattan-based firm launched Operation Turnlock in an effort to curb such illegal activity. It now employs some 20 investigators who scour websites and stores for counterfeit Coach products. Since the program's debut, Coach has entered into 600 lawsuits. Todd Kahn, the company's general counsel, said the money is well spent.
Most bags are not protected by copyrights, but Coach does have trademark protection for its high-end Reed Krakoff Boxer bag, thanks to the purse's innovative shape. Already, just over a year into the Boxer's existence, Coach is enmeshed in three lawsuits over copycats of the bag.
"We're going to be very innovative and go after people," said Mr. Kahn. "If you sell counterfeits, we'll find you, we'll sue you, and we'll win."
Trademark protection is not available on all products, however. Generally, prints and jewelry are protected by copyrights, but not fashion designs, because of their functionality as clothing.,sexylingeries fittedcaps newyorkyankees ladodgers buffalonewyork., northfacejackets offer a wide selection of Replica Watches of all popular Replica Watches brands including Replica Bell & Ross Watches, Days after last month's Golden Globes, copies of Charlize Theron's pink Dior gown appeared online for under $500. Similarly, inexpensive knockoffs of Kate Middleton's wedding dress appeared two days after the royal wedding—all perfectly legal under American law.
"In Europe, those designs are protected, but in the U.,crybud up over 5 times.S. they're not, and the result is that a designer comes out with a dress and the other stores come out with the exact duplicates,The following are some of the steps included in buying parkajackets." said Randy Lipsitz, a partner at law firm Kramer Levin Naftalis & Frankel.
After running into a colleague wearing the same item, Ms. Carlson discovered that Forever 21, the Los Angeles-based mass-market discount store, was selling its own line of tepee-printed apparel.
"We had gotten some great press from that collection, but we never thought we would see it in this context," said Ms. Wu, who along with Ms. Carlson is embroiled in a copyright infringement lawsuit with Forever 21. The retailer did not respond to calls requesting comment.
Trend goes mainstream
Knockoff designs, whether hanging on the racks at chain stores like Forever 21 and Urban Outfitters or selling via e-commerce sites, have graduated from back alleys to Main Street. Retail lawyers blame the increased use of the Internet as a shopping tool, as well as the shift in production from local facilities to overseas factories in countries such as China, where retailers have less control over manufacturing.
Each year, U.S. designers lose hundreds of millions of dollars from sales of copycat products, including handbags, printed apparel and jewelry. Many brands, such as Coach, employ entire departments to police the Internet and the brick-and-mortar landscape for counterfeits, while several apparel designers are working hard to win passage of legislation in Congress to protect their styles.
"The biggest thing is the Internet," said Susan Scafidi, academic director of the Fashion Law Institute at Fordham University School of Law. "Years ago, you used to have to sneak into a fashion show in Paris, then come back out and sketch from memory. Now the images are available instantaneously."
Fighting to protect your designs can be prohibitively expensive for all but the biggest companies. For Feral Childe, which generates less than $1 million in annual revenue, monitoring the masses for copycat looks is a near impossibility—it's simply too costly. But not so for Coach Inc. The $4.2 billion handbag company, along with Louis Vuitton and Chanel, is one of the most copied brands in the world. Each year, Coach spends millions of dollars to prevent counterfeit activity.
Investigators on the job
Three years ago, the Manhattan-based firm launched Operation Turnlock in an effort to curb such illegal activity. It now employs some 20 investigators who scour websites and stores for counterfeit Coach products. Since the program's debut, Coach has entered into 600 lawsuits. Todd Kahn, the company's general counsel, said the money is well spent.
Most bags are not protected by copyrights, but Coach does have trademark protection for its high-end Reed Krakoff Boxer bag, thanks to the purse's innovative shape. Already, just over a year into the Boxer's existence, Coach is enmeshed in three lawsuits over copycats of the bag.
"We're going to be very innovative and go after people," said Mr. Kahn. "If you sell counterfeits, we'll find you, we'll sue you, and we'll win."
Trademark protection is not available on all products, however. Generally, prints and jewelry are protected by copyrights, but not fashion designs, because of their functionality as clothing.,sexylingeries fittedcaps newyorkyankees ladodgers buffalonewyork., northfacejackets offer a wide selection of Replica Watches of all popular Replica Watches brands including Replica Bell & Ross Watches, Days after last month's Golden Globes, copies of Charlize Theron's pink Dior gown appeared online for under $500. Similarly, inexpensive knockoffs of Kate Middleton's wedding dress appeared two days after the royal wedding—all perfectly legal under American law.
"In Europe, those designs are protected, but in the U.,crybud up over 5 times.S. they're not, and the result is that a designer comes out with a dress and the other stores come out with the exact duplicates,The following are some of the steps included in buying parkajackets." said Randy Lipsitz, a partner at law firm Kramer Levin Naftalis & Frankel.
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