Taylor Swift settling her dispute and trade dress dispute over the Amazon Coat

Good morning everyone. Hope you are all enjoying Easter break. For this week’s IP news.

Taylor Swift and Evermore Park dropping their lawsuits

If you remember, a few weeks ago (or was it a month?) we reported that a Utah theme park accused Taylor Swift of infringing its IP with the name of her latest album (Evermore). Swift replied by filing claims of her own accusing Evermore Park of using her songs without permission.

The parties have now dropped their lawsuits and agreed to settle all the claims.

Protecting the viral “Amazon Coat”

The 139$ “Amazon Coat” (created by Jiaxing Zichi Trade Co.) that went viral, is now at the center of a lawsuit. According to Jiaxing, a handful of defendants, including a number of fellow China-based Amazon sellers, have blatantly and unlawfully misappropriated its Orolay Women’s Thickened Down Jacket (“Amazon Coat”) infringing its trademark rights. 

According to Jiaxing in 2013, it debuted the Orolay coat, a “distinctive and instantly recognizable garment, featuring voluminous paneling, multiple zippers, oversized pockets and a cocoon-like shape that is shorter in the front and longer in the back.” Since the launch, the company has been investing a lot of time, money and efforts into the promotion of its coat. The efforts paid off and the coat enjoyed a massive success, worn by many celebrities such as Naomi Watts, Emma Stone, and Oprah. At the same time, the jacket has gained notoriety and has consistently remained as a number one best-seller for women’s coats on Amazon. In addition, consumers now widely recognise the unique and distinctive design, as well as the style of the Orolay jacket as indicators of the products’ origin and quality as from the Orolay brand.

Taking into account all of the above, according to Jiaxing, the infringers have tried to piggyback on the enormous popularity, goodwill and success of the Orolay jacket design, by illegally manufacturing and selling low-quality knock-off jackets that copy the same style, look and feel of the Orolay jacket. This has been done intentionally in order to confuse consumers and lure them into buying the copy. 

Jiaxing is now claiming trade dress infringement (trade dress is a concept exclusive to our US counterparts), alleging that they have rights in the overall look and appearance of the Orolay jacket, including but not limited to the design, appearance and placement of the panels, lines and curves of the jacket, pockets and their zipper closures, cuffs, and other essential elements. Following this claim, the company is now asking for monetary damages, and for the infringing companies to stop manufacturing and selling the copies.

Interesting readings:

• A proposal for an International Agreement: the International instrument on permitted uses in Copyright law – Reto M. Hilty and Valentina Moscon - http://copyrightblog.kluweriplaw.com/2021/03/19/a-proposal-for-an-international-agreement-the-international-instrument-on-permitted-uses-in-copyright-law/