Listen Now

This episode is all about the luxury jewelry house of Cartier. I begin with some brief history of the Cartier fashion house, then discuss trademark and trade dress law in relation to Cartier. Finally, I discuss and provide a legal analysis of the new lawsuit initiated by Cartier and Amazon against various influencers attempting to sell allegedly counterfeit Cartier jewelry. Enjoy and thank you for listening!  The Fashion Law Network podcast and statements made are for entertainment purposes only and are not legal advice. If you would like legal advice or a legal consultation you may contact me directly at kasia@caldwellip.com.  Episode Notes:  1. Cartier and Amazon.com Inc v. PHMN9Y3V, et al, 2:22-cv-00840 (W.D. Wash.)  2.  Cartier and Amazon.com Inc v. Yfxf, et al, :22-cv-00841 (W.D. Wash.)

This episode is all about the Balmain fashion house. I begin with some recent Balmain news and then provide a brief history of the fashion house. Next, I discuss and analyze a few interesting patents and trademarks owned by Balmain. Finally, I provide my legal analysis of two intellectual property lawsuits that Balmain has been embroiled in. Enjoy and thank you for listening!

This episode is all about the post pandemic luxury sales boom many stores are currently experiencing, with a focus on famed American department store, Saks Fifth Avenue. Enjoy and thank you for listening.  Episode notes: 1. Giordano v. Saks Inc., 1:20-cv-00833, (E.D.N.Y.) 2. Beauty Holdings LLC, d/b/a The Salon Project By Joel Warren v. Saks & Company LLC et al

This episode is all about the Missoni fashion house. I begin with some brief history of Missoni, then I discuss the concept of patent inventorship and analyze some interesting patents and trademarks that Missoni owns. Finally, I provide my legal analysis of a situation where a non-inventor filed and obtained a design patent for a very popular it bag, a cautionary tale of sitting on your intellectual property rights! Episode Notes:  1. American Bar Association article "Employee Inventors and Patent Ownership: Whose Rights Are They Anyway?"  2. Trovan, Ltd. v. Sokymat SA, 299 F.3d 1292, 1302 (Fed. Cir. 2002)

This episode is all about luxury fashion counterfeiting. I provide some background information about the world of counterfeiting and discuss the latest U.S. Intellectual Property and Counterfeit Goods— Landscape Review of Existing/Emerging Research document. Then, I provide my legal analysis of three recent luxury counterfeit-centric lawsuits. Finally, I discuss the fascinating new blockchain technology (Aura Blockchain Consortium) aimed at stopping counterfeit luxury goods.  Enjoy and thank you for listening!  Episode notes:  1. Amazon.com, Inc. v. Fitzpatrick et al, 2:20-cv-016622 (W.D. Wash. 2020) 2. Facebook, Inc. et al v. Kokhtenko, 3:21-cv-03036 (N.D. Cal. 2021) 3. Amazon, Inc. and Valentino S.P.A., v. Kaitlyn Pan Group, LLC and Hao Pan, 2:20-cv-00934 (W.D. Wash. 2020)

This episode is all about the Balenciaga fashion house. I begin with a brief history of the fashion house, followed by a discussion of patent and trademark law in relation to Balenciaga and finally, I provide my legal analysis of two recent, interesting intellectual property-based lawsuits that the fashion house has been involved with. The first lawsuit I analyze is City Merchandise Inc., v. Balenciaga where a New York City souvenir company sued Balenciaga for copyright infringement for the design on their tote bags and the second lawsuit I discuss is CarFreshner Corp., v. Balenciaga where a car freshener company sued Balenciaga for trademark infringement among a few other claims. Episode Notes:  1. City Merchandise Inc., v. Balenciaga,1:18-cv-06748 (SDNY) 2. CarFreshner Corp., v. Balenciaga, 1:18-cv-09629 (SDNY)

This episode is all about the Hermes fashion house featuring a special guest, Cheryl, a fellow patent attorney and Hermes connoisseur. Cheryl and I are fascinated by the fact that Hermes rarely advertises but remains one of the top performing luxury fashion houses, they even surpassed their usual sales during the covid pandemic! Cheryl and I discuss the possible reasons for this, Hermes' extremely unique business method, intellectual property and much more. 

This episode is all about the Chloe luxury fashion house. I begin with some history of Chloe and Richemont, then discuss the interesting patents and trademarks owned by the fashion house and then discuss and analyze Chloe's recent B-Corp Certification. Finally, I discuss and analyze a trademark infringement and counterfeiting lawsuit that Chloe was recently embroiled in. Episode Notes:  1.  Link to Article " B Corp certification won’t guarantee companies really care for people, planet and profit"  https://theconversation.com 2.   RICHEMONT INTERNATIONAL SA, CARTIER INTERNATIONAL A.G., MONTBLANC-SIMPLO GMBH, CHLOE S.A.S., VAN CLEEF & ARPELS SA, AND OFFICINE PANERAI A.G  v.  THE PARTNERSHIPS and UNINCORPORATED ASSOCIATIONS IDENTIFIED ON SCHEDULE “A,”,  1:19-cv-07908

And just like that...I'm back with season 4 of the podcast series! This episode is about yet another trademark infringement lawsuit Chanel is embroiled in involving a secondary market reseller, an independent US based jewelry company which was selling jewelry using repurposed Chanel buttons. I also discuss the first sale doctrine and the various patents and trademarks that the Chanel fashion house owns.  Episode Notes:  1. Chanel, Inc. v. Shiver and Duke, LLC, et al., 1:21-cv-01277 (SDNY).

This episode is all about the Prada fashion house. I begin with some history of Prada, then discuss the interesting patents and trademarks owned by Prada and then discuss and analyze a European trademark infringement case involving the Prada trademark and an Indonesian company seeking to trademark “The Rich Prada”. Finally, I discuss and analyze an unusual ongoing lawsuit that Prada is embroiled in , Caporicci v. Prada, concerning a battle over alligator hatchlings. Episode Notes:  1. Prada SA v EUIPO, T-111/16, Judgment of 5 June 2018, EU:T:2018:32 2. Caporicci U.S.A. Corp. v. Prada S.p.A. et al, 1:18-cv-20859

This episode is all about NFT, non-fungible tokens featuring a special guest, California based patent attorney and NFT legal expert, Irene Lee. For the past 20 years she has focused her practice on all aspects of intellectual property, including patent, trademark, copyright, trade secret, and right of publicity. I begin the episode with a brief definition of key NFT terms and then discuss my journey into the NFT purchasing landscape. During my discussion with Irene we learn about the various intellectual property law implications in relation to NFTs among many other NFT topics, such as fashion NFTs and tips for artists who may be interested in entering the NFT landscape. Enjoy and thank you for listening! 

This episode all about mergers, acquisitions and the recent LVMH/Tiffany acquisition. This is a special episode featuring an interview and discussion with Laura Noroski, a corporate transactional attorney in Orange County, California who is well-versed in merger and acquisition law.  Enjoy and thank you for listening!  Episode Notes:  1. Special Guest: Laura Noroski is a partner at the Orange County law firm, Garcia Rainey Blank & Bowerbank LLP and owner of www.mylawpal.com 2. Agreement and Plan of Merger: www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/98246/

This episode is all about the Celine fashion house. I begin with some  brief history of the fashion house which started back in 1945, with a focus on the controversy when creative director Hedi Slimane took the helm in 2018. Then I discuss some brief patent and trademark law and how it relates to the Celine fashion house and at the end of the episode I provide a discussion and analysis of a famous French trademark infringement lawsuit when luxury fashion house Celine sued another company also named Celine in Nancy, France. The Celine in Nancy, France was selling clothing under the store name Celine. I think the conclusion in that case may surprise you! Enjoy and thank you for listening!  Episode Notes:  1. Céline SA v Céline SARL

This episode is all about the natural selection process in the retail industry. I focus my analysis on one endangered species in particular, the shopping mall. I begin with some background information and history on American shopping malls and discuss a few recent mall lawsuits. Then I discuss general bankruptcy law and provide a recent timeline of various major retailer bankruptcies.  

This episode is all about off price retailers! I begin with a discussion of the TJ Maxx family of stores (TJ Maxx, TK Maxx, Marshall's etc.) and how some major luxury designer merchandise from brands like Manolo Blahnik, Gucci, Fendi, Saint Laurent end up for sale there at a major discount. I also discuss other off price retailers like Last Call by Neiman Marcus. At the end of the episode I discuss and analyze the class action lawsuit Rubenstein v. The Neiman Marcus Group LLC which alleged that Neiman Marcus “labels its Last Call clothing with a tag that shows a markedly lower price from the 'Compared to' price which corresponds to the price that appears to be used in traditional Neiman Marcus retail stores". Enjoy and thank you for listening!  Episode Notes:  1. Rubenstein v. The Neiman Marcus Group LLC,  2:14-cv-07155 ( C.D. Cal. 2014)

This episode is all about the French luxury Givenchy fashion house. I begin with some brief history of the fashion house including how LVMH acquired the Givenchy company in the mid 80’s. Then I discuss patent and trademark law in relation to Givenchy focusing on trade dress which is a form of trademark law that I have not yet discussed on this podcast series. Finally, I illustrate how trade dress may be used in a fashion context by discussing and analyzing the trade dress infringement lawsuit of Givenchy v. BCBG Max Azria. Enjoy and thank you for listening! Episode Notes:  1. Givenchy S.A. v. BCBG Max Azria Group, Inc. CV10-8394 (C.D. Cal. 2010)

This episode is all about fashion designer, director and style legend Tom Ford. I begin with a brief biography and history of Tom Ford's career. Then I provide a legal analysis of the trademark infringement case Chadwick McQueen v. Tom Ford International LLC  over a Tom Ford shawl collar cardigan. Finally, I discuss and analyze how Tom Ford's counsel was able to register a trademark for Tom Ford's famous and controversial perfume name "fucking fabulous" overcoming the scandalousness provision of Section 2(a) of the Lanham Act including a discussion of the recent landmark Supreme Court decision in Iancu v. Brunetti.  Enjoy and thank you for listening!  Episode Notes:  1. Chadwick McQueen v. Tom Ford International LLC (2:19-cv-04074) (C.D. Cal. 2019) 2. Iancu v. Brunetti, No. 18-302 (U.S., June 24, 2019)

This episode is all about the application of Anti-SLAPP laws on a few high-profile entertainment and fashion industry lawsuits including in connection with the recent case of dbleudazzled, LLC v. Khloe Kardashian and Good American. This is a special episode featuring an interview and discussion with Mike Trauben, an entertainment attorney in Beverly Hills, who is well-versed in this field of law and has litigated some really high profile anti-SLAPP law cases. Enjoy and thank you for listening! Episode Notes: 1. Special Guest: Mike Trauben is a partner at the Beverly Hills law firm www.singhtraubenlaw.com 2. dbleudazzled, LLC v. Khloe Kardashian and Good American, LLC, 20STCV20510 (Cal.Sup.) 3. James Bellino et al. v. Tamra Judge et al., 30-2018-01008497

Is social media the future of shopping? On this episode I discuss how social media is changing the way we shop, with a focus on Instagram. I discuss and analyze a few recent relevant utility patents owned by Instagram/Facebook and then go over a few lawsuits involving Instagram and influencers such as Conditi v. Instagram, LLC et al and Amazon.com, Inc. v. Fitzpatrick et al. Enjoy and thank you for listening! Episodes Notes: 1. Brittany Conditi, et al. v. Instagram LLC, et al., Case No. 3:20-cv-06534-AGT (N.D. Cal. 2020) 2.  Amazon.com, Inc. v. Fitzpatrick et al, 2:20-cv-016622 (W.D. Wash. 2020) 3. Eva’s Photography, Inc. v. Fendi North America, Inc., 1:20-cv-03331 (S.D.N.Y. 2020) 4. Swedishandstylish LLC v. Christian Dior, Inc., 1:20-cv-02099 (S.D.N.Y 2020)

This episode is all about the impact of Brexit on intellectual property and fashion law.  This is a special episode featuring an interview and discussion with U.K. fashion lawyer and author, Rosie Burbidge. Rosie wrote the book titled, European Fashion Law. We discuss and analyze the various changes to trademarks, patents and copyrights due to Brexit among other issues.  Enjoy! Episode Notes:  1. Special Guest: Rosie Burbidge : Author of European Fashion Law: A Practical Guide from Start Up to Global Success and she is a partner at the law firm www.gunnercooke.com 2. Freddy SPA v. Hugz Clothing Ltd & Ors (2020) EWHC 3032 (IPEC)