Italian and American dishes are distinguished Gucci v. Guess - the brand claims

        According to a May 2013 judgment of the Italian Tribunale di Milano (Court of Milan), products of Los Angeles, guess which brand Inc ("guess") mode does not violate the trademark rights of the Italian luxury brand Guccio Gucci SpA ("Gucci") .

However, according to a May 2012 decision of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, which they do.

It is not to listen for the parallel case, and are different from one country to the other judges unusual. Often globally recognized brands spend a lot of time and resources to protect their intellectual property through the material world. Since there is no such thing as a global brand or agency of the global application must proprietor their tracks separately register in all countries where they need protection (unless filed the application with the Office is the International Bureau of WIPO appointed with several members under the Madrid Protocol).

Gucci has given appeal his intention, the judgment of the Court of Milan, and said he would continue to take "all necessary measures [to] protect their brands, its image, all the results of his creativity and especially its iconic characters with distinctive, against all those that use the parasite to emulate their universal recognition and want to obtain an unfair advantage. "

Decision of the Court of Milan

The Milan court held that no presumption against brands Gucci, mainly due to:

Graphic differences between the marks, in view of the police, the thickness and inclination of the letters, and
guess not visible presence on all products, announced the name of "guess". The court found that confusion would be especially observant and circumspect consumer to avoid "" [Ed: This seems to be more demanding than the standard of "reasonable consumer" standard common in Australia, the foundation on which. Court applied this standard is not clear, and be involved-pricing products].

The Milan court also stated that two of the hallmarks of Gucci was invalid, namely:

the letter "G" used lines in a radial pattern, because they do not have a distinctive character and
the floral pattern because it Article 9 of the Code of the Italian Industrial Property violated because he should be capable of substantial value to the product. This provision is to people from registering marks that are important or valuable to prevent their functionality. For example, Article 9 also prohibits the registration of marks that. Exclusively of the shape which is required by the nature of the product or the shape of goods to achieve a technical effect

How does this compare to the situation under U.S. law?

The application of the United States Lanham (Trademark) Act, 15 USC § 1051, the court had to decide whether the use of trademarks guess probably lead to "many ordinary buyer was careful ... misled or the origin of the product in question because the entry of [Guess] work be confused. "U.S. District Court only as a violation of four Marks asserts trade Gucci, Guess and found that every mark, subject to the appeal of Gucci was, with the exception of the italicized word" Gucci " had violated.

Click here to see the table.

What is the Australian legal?

In assessing the trademark infringement in Australia for misleading similarity, a court may consider whether the consumer would have with imperfect recollection of asking whether or not the competitor's products come from the same source. This test requires the courts to examine the circumstances, for example, brand awareness and sales channels in which such products are sold in Australia relevant.

The story continues ...

Various decisions highlight any difficulties in international brands that met international trademark protection. They certainly show that reasonable minds can differ on the same subject.

In addition to the procedures in Italy and the United States, Gucci has also filed suit against presumption in France and China, alleging trademark infringement and unfair competition. If the parties stand on a one-all seem to sit.