Cast your minds back to November 2019 and you may remember the news of Versace suing fast-fashion company Fashion Nova. With Versace arguing the Californian retailer had deliberately imitated its “most famous and recognisable designs” – including its black and gold Baroque motif and the “Jungle Print” popularised by J.Lo in 2000 – Fashion Nova then responded to the claims, with 32 defences.
Reported on the Fashion Law, Fashion Nova filed its 25-page defence at a federal Californian court on Thursday. Arguing the copyright claims Versace holds over its designs should be removed as the prints are not “original”, Fashion Nova stated the referred to prints are “standard geometric figures and patterns,” which are “in the public domain,” and “widely used in the fashion/apparel industry”. The company has, therefore, concluded the pieces should not be protected by copyright and has further gone onto argue that six of the house’s existing copyright registrations should also be invalidated on this basis.
Versace, which made its case last year, claimed the pieces sold by Fashion Nova may confuse customers, as their similarity to the Italian house could allude to an affiliation between the two brands. Fashion Nova, however, responded to these claims by arguing its use of the prints are decorative meaning there is “no likelihood of confusion between (its) allegedly-infringing products and Versace’s purported trademarks,” therefore making the infringement claims an irrelevant charge.
This news follows a report made by Dazed last week on a John Galliano look-a-like piece sold on the PrettyLittleThing website – that even featured the designer’s name. Although whether this will result in legal action is yet to be seen, it highlights the many claims of copying fast-fashion companies continue to face.
