Chanel targets Indiana “Chanel” beauty salon
French luxury brand Chanel has sued Indiana-based beauty parlour Chanel’s Salon for trademark infringement.
According to the Wigs and Gowns School of Fashion Law blog, Chanel accused salon owner Chanel Jones of benefiting from the luxury brand’s reputation, stressing that Jones only used her first name in her business’s branding.
Chanel filed its complaint at the US District Court for the Northern District of Indiana last Friday (August 29).
The 105-year-old fashion house has a long history of defending its trademarks, some of which were issued in the US as far back as the 1950s.
Earlier this year it received just under $4.8 million damages in a trademark infringement case against replica designer handbag maker Purse Valley.
In 2010, news website Fashionista reported that Chanel took out a back page advertisement in fashion trade magazine WWD, urging fashion editors and writers to stop using the term ‘Chanel’ to describe pieces made by other designers.
“Although our style is justly famous, a jacket is not ‘a Chanel jacket’ unless it is ours, and somebody else’s cardigans are not ‘Chanel for now.’ And even if we are flattered by such tributes to our fame as ‘Chanel-issime, Chanel-ed, Chanels, and Chanel-ized’, PLEASE DON’T. Our lawyers positively detest them. We take our trademark seriously,” it said.
However, Chanel has not always been successful in its trademark applications. Last June, the UK Intellectual Property Office rejected its attempt to register a UK trademark for the word ‘Jersey' in class 3, which covers “Preparations for application to or care of the skin, scalp, hair or nails; soaps; perfumes; essential oils; cosmetics; non-medicated toilet preparations”.
