Fashion Counsel

A case filed by Burberry Ltd. earlier this year against JC Penney Corp Inc. in the Southern District of New York for trademark infringement, and related state and federal unfair competition claims over JC Penney’s use of a checkered pattern on coats appears to have quickly been resolved.

On March 18, retailer Sears Holdings Corp. was hit with a $5.5 million lawsuit in Illinois’ Cook County Circuit Court by clothing company Sprockets Clothing Inc. (which is now known as SCI Apparel Inc.).

Costco Wholesale Corporation recently moved to dismiss a class action lawsuit alleging that the discount retailer printed more than the last five digits of a customer’s credit card number on her receipt, in violation of the Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act.

Amazon.com, Inc. recently moved for partial summary judgment in lawsuit brought by the FTC alleging the company unfairly billed users for “in-app purchases.”

This alert brings you recent developments affecting importers at US Customs and Border Protection (CBP). The developments affect how importer information is filed with CBP.

As 2016 gets underway, companies should be mindful that regulators are paying close attention to automatic recurring debit transactions.

Macy’s, Inc. and subsidiary Bloomingdale’s, Inc. were recently served with a class action complaint alleging that the retail chains misled consumers with a “phantom pricing scheme” that inflated the savings available on items marked for sale.

The Federal Trade Commission amended its Telemarketing Sales Rule at the end of 2015 to ban certain forms of abusive payment methods.

Costco is defending a trademark infringement lawsuit over its sale of Anne Cole swimwear, an iconic line of women’s swimwear that has been sold in the US for over 30 years.

Twentieth Century Fox Television recently filed a motion for summary judgment in a dispute with record label Empire Distribution, Inc. over the name of Fox’s popular television series Empire.

The Federal Trade Commission has a reached a settlement agreement with several major retailers, including Nordstrom, Bed Bath & Beyond, and JCPenney, over claims that they improperly labeled and advertised rayon products as being made of bamboo.

A federal judge in the Northern District of California recently dismissed a complaint in which video game producers claimed that characters from their games had been misappropriated by competing developers, in violation of copyright law.

A judge in New Jersey federal district court recently dismissed a lawsuit brought against The Cartoon Network by a renowned video gamer.

In this episode of Fashion Counsel, Partner Anthony Lupo reviews trade dress details with Intellectual Property Partner Allan E. Anderson.

On Monday, November 30, 2015, Nordstrom and denim manufacturer AG Adriano Goldschmied filed a motion to approve a settlement in California federal court, agreeing to pay more than $4 million to settle a consumer class action suit that accused them of falsely labeling jeans as “Made in USA.”

A federal judge for the Southern District of California recently held in Branca v. Nordstrom, Inc. that a class action could proceed with claims that Nordstrom made deceptive savings claims at a Nordstrom Rack store.

Urban Outfitters, Inc. recently settled an overtime wage and hour class action brought by one of its employees who alleged that he and others similarly situated were forced to work overtime without appropriate pay and that the Company violated a number of other California labor laws.

In this episode of Fashion Counsel, Partners Anthony Lupo and Richard Newman talk about why and how a fashion company should set-up a non-profit entity for their charitable giving.

Has Estee Lauder built such significant brand value that a retailer is doomed if it cannot stock Estee Lauder’s products on its shelves? This is the question Duty Free Americas asked a federal appeals court to once again consider after both the district court and the appeals court said “no.”

In this video episode of Fashion Counsel, Arent Fox Partners Anthony Lupo and Dana Finberg talk about trade secret basics, including how they differ from patents and how to define it in the eyes of the law.

Clients often ask whether—and, if so, when—they must use the ® and ™ symbols, or other forms of attribution, when using another company’s trademarks.

On Tuesday September 1, 2015, California Governor Jerry Brown signed a bill that will enable products to be labeled and marketed with an unqualified “Made in USA” statement even if not entirely made in the United States – a major departure from California’s current more stringent standard.

In a closely-watched fashion design case, the Sixth Circuit ruled last week that decorative designs on cheerleading uniforms are eligible for copyright protection.

Jawbone and Fitbit, both billion-dollar leaders in the “wearable” technology category of fitness bands, are warming up for what may become a test of legal endurance.

In this episode of Fashion Counsel, Partner Anthony Lupo talks with Hank Rouda, Former General Counsel, North America at H&M.