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21 February 2019Trademarks

Kim Kardashian sues ‘derivative’ clothing range

Kim Kardashian West is suing UK women’s clothing company  Missguided for trademark infringement, alleging that it used her name and image to sell products without her permission.

The model and reality TV star, along with her company Kimsaprincess, filed the suit in the US District Court for the Central District of California yesterday, February 20.

In the complaint, Kardashian alleged that Missguided’s “fast and inexpensive” business model was “often derivative of other companies’ designs, if not blatant knock-offs”.

Kardashian owns trademarks including variations of her name (US numbers 4,989,420; 4,978,865; and 4,516,079) in classes 35 and 41, covering advertising services and entertainment in the field of pop culture.

According to the suit, Missguided used the name and images of Kardashian and her sisters on its US websites to promote their “knock-off” goods.

“Missguided’s US website has included entire pages that are devoted solely to the sale of clothing inspired by Kardashian, and on which Kardashian’s name and likeness are prominently used without her permission”, the complaint said.

Kardashian’s suit included images of the web pages, which promoted Missguided’s products with the taglines “crushin’ on kim k” and “5 party looks inspired by Kim Kardashian”.

The reality TV star also cited a post on Missguided’s in response to a photo Kardashian had posted of herself.

The Missguided post, which tagged Kardashian’s  account, featured a photo of a model in a “rip off” dress to the one Kardashian was wearing, saying “@KimKardashian you’ve only got a few days before this drops online”.

Kardashian also accused Missguided of using its Instagram account to post pictures of her with her husband, rapper Kanye West, and their children, in order to promote its brand.

“Missguided has so systematically misappropriated Kardashian’s name and likeness that the consuming public is likely to and has come to the mistaken conclusion that she is affiliated with Missguided”, the complaint said.

Kardashian is seeking damages of at least $10 million, and injunctive relief preventing any further infringement of her trademarks.

In a statement sent to WIPR, Missguided said that the company had not “received any notification of legal action, but in any event any action based on online banter would be meritless”.

“For the record, as much as we love her style, we’re not working with Kim on anything”, the statement added.

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More on this story

Trademarks
20 July 2018   Reality TV star Kim Kardashian West has found herself at the centre of yet another IP lawsuit in the US, this time centring on her latest line of perfumes.
Trademarks
4 April 2019   A US appeals court has dismissed a trademark infringement claim against the Kardashian sisters.
Trademarks
4 July 2019   Kim Kardashian West has secured $2.7 million in damages in a lawsuit she brought against Missguided, in which she accused the clothing brand of exploiting her trademarks and likeness on its Instagram account.