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4 February 2015Trademarks

Gucci to appeal against Guess trademark loss

Luxury brand Gucci has vowed to continue the fight against fashion company Guess’s alleged misuse of its trademarks, despite a French court rejecting its most recent claim.

On Monday (February 2), the Paris High Court  rejected Gucci’s claim that Guess had infringed three of its Community trademarks (CTMs) covering the designs of its wallets and belts.

Gucci had demanded €55 million ($62 million) in damages, but the court ruled in favour of Guess and ordered Gucci to pay €30,000 in compensation. The court also revoked Gucci’s three CTMs at the centre of the dispute.

The luxury brand, however, has said that it will appeal against the decision. A spokesperson told WIPR: “Gucci disagrees with the decision handed down by the Paris High Court, which rejected the claims against Guess.

“Gucci will certainly and immediately bring an appeal against the decision,” the spokesperson added.

After the recent ruling, 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."

In 2013, 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 was clear.

The appeals 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.

In 2012, Gucci was awarded $4.6 million in damages by the US District Court for the Southern District Court of New York, which ruled that Guess infringed its trademarks. The damages amount was far smaller than the $221 million Gucci had originally requested.

(CORRECTION: February 5. WIPR originally said that Gucci had lost the case at the Milan Court of Appeal.)

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