Just Fab and Fab.com square off in trademark row

Online fashion store Just Fab has stung rival website Fab.com with a host of legal claims including trademark infringement.

In a complaint filed at the US District Court for the Central District of California, Just Fab alleges that “Fab.com’s unauthorized use of the confusingly similar mark, FAB, is likely to confuse, to cause mistake or to deceive”.

Founded in 2010, Justfab.com sells a wide range of goods including shoes and bags, and its owners are planning to open a “bricks and mortar” site soon in California, according to the July 24 complaint.

The suit notes that fellow e-commerce site fab.com began as a gay social networking site (fabulis.com) but “was not successful”. Specifically, it claims, the founders of fabulis.com changed their business model and domain name in 2011 after seeing the success of justfab.com.

Just Fab lists several similarities between the sites, including the offering of well-designed goods at bargain prices and the use of a membership network.

Fab.com’s stylised trademark comprising the word FAB and a heart design in the lower portion of a box, is visually similar to the JUST FAB trademark, the complaint contends.

It adds: “In adopting the FAB mark for its website, Fab.com intended to appropriate and trade off Just Fab’s goodwill, and the reputation and selling power of its JUST FAB marks, including by capturing initial consumer attention and the resulting marketplace confusion.”

Just Fab wants the court to treble an award of any profits Fab.com has derived from the alleged wilful infringement and for its rival to stop selling competing fashion goods on the Fab.com website.

There are other claims such as unfair competition and false designation of origin.

Analysing the trademark infringement allegations, Jeff Mitchell, partner at Dickstein Shapiro LLP, said he was “not sure how much Fab would infringe on the Just Fab mark”.

“It’s certainly understandable what the complaint is, but [it’s unclear] whether or not the Fab element is strong enough to prevent people using Fab to describe a similar business.”

“This will turn on secondary meaning and likelihood of confusion,” he said, because the trademarks are not identical.

He added: “Fab has been around for a while and has been associated with the gay community.”

Just Fab has bought other fashion sites using the name ‘Fab’, including Fab Kids and the Fab Shoes, but despite having a reported cash pile of nearly $110 million, Fab.com has been valued in some quarters at about $1 billion, making it a very expensive purchase.

Fab.com did not respond to a request for comment, but a spokesman told the news website Tech Crunch: “Our attorneys are currently reviewing the complaint ... While we are not in a position to comment with any specificity on the allegations we will aggressively defend our brand, products, and services offered to our customers worldwide.”