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| image credit: Lululemon |
LONDON, UNITED KINGDOM
by Shanice Goodridge
Branded as the biggest lawsuit in fashion Lululemon has been settled. Lululemon were suing Calvin Klein for alleged ''infringement of design patents for the signature ''Astro'' yoga pants' waistband and design. Lululemon withdrew the lawsuit in a confidential settlement as reported by Bloomberg Businessweek. This lawsuit is considered to have the potential to be an industry game changer since patent actions in the fashion industry are quite hard to win by Business Insider's Ashley Lutz.
Intellectual property expert Jeremy de Beer told Reuters in August last year:
"What Lululemon is doing here is staking its turf," intellectual property expert Jeremy de Beer told Reuters in August. "The business strategy is to deter other people from even trying to copy designs, because it's going to cause them legal problems."
My question is how far can designers really go to stop others offending their intellectual property. I can't say too much about IP because I don't have that much knowledge, but will do in due time. Can the word 'inspiration' be spread far enough to be an adequate defence to the actions that are brought upon them or are these blatant infringements of patents, trademarks and copyrights. What exactly must one do to constitute such a wrong such as 'stealing' or infringement? Could any of this be competition between the brand names? It clearly isn't just about all the glitz and glam, there are real underlying issues within this field which is exactly why I have started this blog.
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