French court dismisses Gucci’s €55m trademark claim against Guess
The Paris High Court has dismissed Gucci’s claim that US clothing brand Guess infringed three of its Community trademarks (CTMs) in France, and has revoked the registrations.
Yesterday (February 2) the court dismissed a lawsuit in which the luxury brand accused Guess of infringing the CTMs, all for the letter ‘G’, covering wallets and belts.
Gucci sought €55 million ($62.4 million) in damages for the alleged infringement, but the French court ruled instead that the brand should pay Guess €30,000 in compensation for legal costs.
The court also declared the three ‘G’ CTMs invalid.
Paul Marciano, chief executive of Guess, said: “For six years now, Gucci has filed case after case against Guess and lost time after time. On top of that, Gucci has lost some trademarks in the Italian case and now some in France as well.
“I continue to believe strongly that all these legal battles are a complete waste of time and this energy and money should be focused on business. Obviously, François-Henri Pinault [chief executive of Kering, Gucci’s parent company] doesn’t see it that way,” he added.
Gucci and Guess have been involved in trademark clashes in the US and Europe, with mixed results.
In 2012, Gucci successfully sued Guess at the US District Court for the Southern District Court of New York for trademark infringement. But Gucci was awarded $4.6 million in damages, a much smaller amount than the $221 million it had originally claimed.
Two years ago, Guess was successful at the Milan Court of First Instance, which ruled that it had not infringed several of Gucci’s trademarks.
But last year, the Milan Court of Appeal partially upheld Gucci's subsequent appeal, stating that Guess's "constant imitative attitude" towards Gucci's motifs is clear and that Guess's initiative "in many cases is aimed at a systematic and massive exploitation of [Gucci’s] initiative and creativity”.
The court stated that Guess had to pay damages because it continued to "adopt signs resembling [Gucci's] commercial offer, but at a lower price". The case has now been referred to the Supreme Court of Cassation, where the amount of damages will be determined.
