Fashion Design, Intellectual Property Protection, Copyright Litigation

German Birkenstock Decision Shows the Limits of Copyright Protection for Functional Designs

Quarles & Brady LLP on 3/14/2025

“Aber ist es Kunst?” - That question—“But is it art?”—was before the German Bundesgerichtshof (“BGH”), or Federal Court of Justice, in a recent proceeding involving the well-known Birkenstock sandal design. ...more

The Top 5 Most Fashionable Intellectual Property Disputes To Walk This Year’s Runways at New York Fashion Week

Foley Hoag LLP - Making Your Mark on 2/7/2020

New York Fashion Week (NYFW) officially kicks off today, February 7, 2020, with a week’s worth of captivating runway shows from top designers. The timing, however, could not be worse, since the 92nd Academy Awards is airing...more

Fashion Design Copyright Infringement Victory - BB&K Partner Henry Welles Wins Fashion Industry Clothing IP Case

Best Best & Krieger LLP on 10/2/2017

A fashion clothing industry copyright infringement appeal was won by Best Best & Krieger LLP Partner Henry Welles, who represented Natural Fashions, Inc., which does business as Anu. The case was originally brought in federal...more

Hip Hip Hooray! Supreme Court Upholds Copyright Protection for Cheerleader Uniforms

Fish & Richardson on 3/24/2017

On March 22, 2017, the Supreme Court, in a 6-2 opinion by Justice Thomas, affirmed the Sixth Circuit’s holding that the two-dimensional graphic designs on Varsity Brands’ cheerleading uniforms are eligible for copyright...more

Reason to Cheer – SCOTUS Suits Up to Hear Copyright Clash Over Cheerleading Uniforms

Dorsey & Whitney LLP on 5/2/2016

Hold onto your pom-poms, copyright fans. On May 2, 2016, the U.S. Supreme Court granted certiorari to address a question that has vexed lower courts across the land: What is the appropriate test to determine when a feature...more

Can I get a C-O-P-Y-R-I-G-H-T? Sixth Circuit Holds Cheerleading Uniform Designs Copyrightable

When are clothing designs sufficiently severable from the utilitarian aspects of the clothing so that the designs can be protected by copyright? That is a question courts have wrestled with for years, and the Sixth Circuit...more

Court Fashions Hybrid Approach to Determining Whether Garment Designs Are Copyrightable - Varsity Brands et al. v. Star Athletica

McDermott Will & Emery on 10/9/2015

Addressing for the first time the question of whether “cheerleading uniforms [are] truly cheerleading uniforms without the stripes, chevrons, zigzags, and color blocks” the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit answered...more

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